Taggers Beware! Graffiti Vandalism Audit has Created The Snare
May 31, 2011
City record of “tags” helps police charge vandals
Edmonton’s first-ever benchmark audit of “tags” – illegal graffiti signatures – will help Edmonton Police Service (EPS), the City of Edmonton and its community partners to better fight vandalism in the city by keeping track of and charging recurring offenders.
The 2010 Capital City Clean Up Graffiti Vandalism Audit examined 646 locations and recorded 1,978 incidents of graffiti in the top 20 Edmonton neighbourhoods affected by graffiti vandalism. The audit found that 10 taggers accounted for nearly half the incidents of graffiti in those neighbourhoods. One vandal has already been convicted of 23 incidents of mischief.
“The City of Edmonton has a vision for its citizens of a clean, safe and livable city where people can live, play and grow their business. Graffiti vandalism has a negative impact not only on our vision of our city, but the impression visitors have of our city,” said Councillor Amarjeet Sohi. “Together with the Edmonton Police Service, City departments, community organizations and citizens, the audit results will help us take back our homes, our streets and our neighbourhoods from graffiti vandals.”
Since the launch of the Graffiti Management Program in 2008, the City and EPS have worked together to prevent and remove graffiti vandalism, enforce the law, and bring criminal charges against graffiti taggers. In fall 2010, the tagger arrested and charged with 23 counts of mischief was later sentenced to victim restitution payments of approximately $6,000, a fine of $1,000, and 150 hours of community service.
“Graffiti vandalism is not harmless, it’s the willful damage of private or public property, and it’s a crime,” said Inspector Terry Rocchio, EPS Southwest Division. “The presence of graffiti in the community can generate fears of increasing gang activity, disorder and crime, and has a strong emotional and financial effect on the victimized. We’re now able to hold more vandals accountable for their crimes because of better reporting by citizens, stronger partnerships between the police, city and community, and more effective tracking tools like the Graffiti Vandalism Audit.”
The auditor, a third-party consultant specializing in environmental auditing, examined graffiti data such as photos provided by the City’s Community Standards branch from 2008 to 2010. The highest concentration of graffiti vandalism was observed in the neighbourhoods of Downtown, Strathcona, Boyle Street and Central McDougall.
As well, 75 per cent of graffiti vandalism observed during the audit was on private property. While most of the graffiti is reported on private property, the compliance rate with the bylaw is nearly 97 per cent, in large part due to Capital City Clean Up’s support for property owners through programs such as the Professional Cleaning Program.
The audit noted that certain walls with murals, such as the Salvation Army building were not defaced by graffiti tags. The audit observed at least six such locations where, in some cases, the artwork had been on the wall since 2003, with nearly no graffiti on them. The Community Mural program offers up to $2,000 to support non-profit community agencies that develop murals to be placed on private and public structures, with the property owners’ permission, to prevent taggers from placing graffiti on them.
Edmontonians are encouraged to help the City and EPS fight graffiti vandalism by reporting it to 311 or if they see graffiti vandalism in progress, to call 911.
For a summary of the audit and information on other graffiti vandalism prevention programs, please visit www.edmonton.ca/capitalcitycleanup.
For more information:
Sharon Chapman
| Title | Graffiti Project Manager, Capital City Clean Up |
|---|---|
| Telephone | 780-442-4711 |
Constable Gerald Jorgenson
| Title | Graffiti Project Coordinator, Edmonton Police Service |
|---|---|
| Telephone | 780-944-8452 780-720-5272 (cell) |
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