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Graffiti Management
The presence of
graffiti on private and public property has
numerous negative impacts on the community.
There are several anti-graffiti initiatives
being implemented by many community groups,
organizations and individual citizens to rid
London of graffiti. Departments within
the City and the London Police Service also play
a role in addressing this “quality of life”
crime. Because of the nature of graffiti, a
coordinated, consistent and multi-faceted
approach is required to address this issue.
What impact does graffiti
have on a community?
What are the forms
of graffiti?
How is graffiti
currently addressed in the City of London?
How are the
Police addressing graffiti?
Why is graffiti removal
a key component of an overall graffiti strategy?
How will the
proposed Graffiti Removal By-law be enforced?
How can graffiti be
prevented?
Are art murals a deterrent
to graffiti?
Links & Resources
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What impact does
graffiti have on a community?
Graffiti has been
termed a “quality of life “crime and the impacts
graffiti has on a community are numerous.
• Property values – Neighbourhoods containing
graffiti are less appealing to those who may be
looking to buy or rent property. Property
becomes more difficult to sell and values are
reduced.
• Retail sales – graffiti can contribute to lost
retail sales – people tend to feel less safe in
areas with a lot of graffiti and are therefore
less likely to shop in those areas.
• Public impact - Graffiti reduces enjoyment of
public spaces such as parkland and civic areas.
It also causes the area to look unsafe and makes
people concerned about their personal safety.
• Impact on tourism - Tourists feel unsafe in
areas where graffiti is abundant.
• Impact on business - Business owners feel
victimized and frustrated when they discover
their business premises have been tagged with
graffiti.
• Graffiti breeds more graffiti - If graffiti is
not removed promptly, the space invites more
graffiti as the “tagger” is confident that their
“tag” will be displayed for some time; Graffiti
sends out a message that “nobody cares” about
the area. This creates an open invitation for
littering, loitering and more graffiti.
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What are the
forms of Graffiti?
Most graffiti is
the work of “taggers” and “writers”. Taggers
engage in the most basic forms of graffiti,
which generally involves a personal, stylized
(often difficult to read) signature. The
underlying motive of taggers is the desire for
public recognition. There are four primary
motivating factors for graffiti vandalism: fame,
rebellion, self-expression, and power.
Taggers are generally motivated to get their
signature (or tag), “up” as many times as
possible. At times, gang related or hate
crime messages are done in the form of a “tag”.
Writers are generally responsible for the more
artistic forms of graffiti known as “throw ups”
or “pieces”. These involve larger and more
elaborate highly stylized forms of graffiti
often completed over several visits to the
subject site. Graffiti writers often work in
small groups called crews and have been known to
take significant risks for the purpose of
displaying their ‘art’ in highly visible spots.
In addition , other forms of graffiti have
emerged. These include stencil graffiti (spray
painting over a pre-designed stencil) and using
sharp objects to scratch “tags” into glass,
metal etc. All forms of graffiti have been
observed in London.
How is
graffiti currently addressed in the City of
London?
The
City's
Yard & Lot Maintenance By-law (PW-9) addresses
graffiti as part of the exterior surfaces
maintenance provision which directs that
appropriate measures be taken to remove any
defacement occurring on exterior surfaces of
buildings. Generally, City property standards
inspectors become involved in dealing with
graffiti issues upon receipt of a complaint.
Their response involves undertaking a site
inspection and issuing a letter requesting that
the defacement be removed within a specified
period (normally 2 weeks) and as appropriate,
the issuance of an Order to Comply to the
property owner to remove the graffiti. In the
majority of cases, the defacement is removed by
the property owner. Under the provisions of the
Building Code Act, the Provincial legislative
authority for the Property Standards By-law, the
City has the authority to enter the private
property and remove the graffiti. The costs of
such removal may be added to the municipal
property taxes.
The Environmental and Engineering Department (EESD)
is involved in three different graffiti
management programs. Awareness, education and
partnerships, such as London Clean and Green,
are coordinated by the Environmental Programs &
Customer Relations Division. City staff
are also responsible for the removal of graffiti
on public property (e.g., bridges, noise walls,
stop signs, etc.) and public buildings. Action
is taken following a maintenance schedule that
is often tied to other maintenance activities.
This means that graffiti removal is often done
when crews are in a specific area of the City
for a variety of duties. This scheduling does
change for certain types of graffiti (e.g.,
racist remarks, vulgar words, etc.) which are
removed more quickly. It is worth noting that
establishing a minimum timeframe to remove
graffiti on public property will impact the EESD
operating budget.
Graffiti is also removed on a regular basis by
MainStreet London and the
Old East Village BIA. Throughout the year,
graffiti is removed by a number of volunteer
groups, many of them coordinated by
Neighbourhood Watch
London.
In September 2006, Council requested that City
staff engage and coordinate the assistance of
London Police Services, local utility companies,
Canada Post, companies having neighbourhood
distribution boxes for various publications and
charitable organizations having neighbourhood
drop-off boxes. The goal was to implement a
co-operative and ongoing program to remove
graffiti from utility, postal, media and
household article drop-off boxes within the
community. Council also requested information on
potential sources of funding for such a program
noting that given the lack of funding from usual
City sources, sponsorship opportunities should
be explored, including the participation of
local businesses and service clubs. Council also
requested that the Thames Valley District School
Board and the London District Catholic School
Board be requested to consider potential
programs they could participate in to engage
students in eradicating graffiti in the
community, perhaps as part of the curriculum
requirement for each student to complete 40
hours of volunteer service to the community.
In April 2006, City Council
passed the
Graffiti Implements By-law
restricting the sale of spray paint and other
graffiti implements to minors. This by-law is in
force and in the fall of 2006, a test shopper
(under the age of 18) was hired by the City to
assist with enforcement of the by-law. Attempts
to purchase graffiti implements at 43 stores
resulted in charges being laid at 30 retail
outlets. The fine of selling graffiti implements
to a minor is $125.
How are the
Police addressing graffiti?
The
London Police Service recognizes the important
role that police play in combating graffiti as
well as the negative affects that the presence
of graffiti can have on a community and the
resulting lessened perceived quality of life. As
a result in 2006, the London Police Service
(LPS) undertook enhanced investigative efforts
regarding graffiti. The Community Oriented
Response (COR) Unit within the LPS responds to
chronic quality of life issues that affect the
citizens of London and has designated a specific
Officer to oversee graffiti initiatives. The
Graffiti Investigator is tasked with monitoring
all reported graffiti occurrences, tracking and
identifying graffiti trends, establishing
suspects, investigating occurrences and
targeting highly victimized areas.
The Graffiti Investigator also participates and
assists in the organization of approximately
four graffiti related community clean ups per
year as well as public speaking and educational
initiatives when requested by the community.
These enhanced efforts of the LPS have yielded
positive results with 391 Graffiti
investigations conducted in 2006 compared with
161 in 2005. These investigations resulted in a
combined total of 125 criminal charges and
warnings in 2006 as compared to 93 in 2005.
Several chronic graffiti offenders were also
identified and were prosecuted as a result of
these efforts.
In order to further these graffiti initiatives
and ensure continued proactive police
involvement regarding this issue, the LPS is
also considering the implementation of a
comprehensive graffiti abatement program similar
to that of other major municipal police forces
across Canada.
Why is graffiti
removal a key component of an overall graffiti
strategy?
It is
well documented that the existence of graffiti
is detrimental to property values and adversely
affects neighbourhood quality of life. When
graffiti is allowed to remain, it invites yet
more graffiti and may lead to an increase in
vandalism and other criminal activity. The
underlying motive of taggers is the desire for
public recognition. They gain "fame" and
“status” from other taggers by painting their
distinctive "tags" in as many places as
possible. Although the voluntary efforts of
local citizens, neighborhood groups, agencies
and committees in undertaking graffiti removal
projects is commendable and exhibits civic pride
, due to the nature of graffiti, voluntary
efforts must be partnered with a coordinated and
consistent graffiti removal program. Rapid
removal is considered key to controlling and
eradicating graffiti.
How will the
proposed Graffiti Removal By-law be enforced?
Staff recognize that the legitimate concerns of
local business owners and other property owners
who themselves feel victimized when their
buildings are defaced through the act of
graffiti. The intent of the By-law is not to punish these property owners
who of no fault of their own have had their
building vandalized. In the majority of cases,
property owners will individually remove
graffiti from their building or hire a graffiti
removal company to undertake this task. Research
has shown that prompt and consistent removal of
graffiti will eventually rid the area of
graffiti as the vandals will not have the
recognition of “showing off” their tags.
The intent of addressing graffiti removal in the
Yard & Lot Maintenance By-law is to
build on the regulations contained in the
Property Standards By-law by addressing graffiti
on other structures and things (i.e. utility
boxes, mail boxes, fences, retaining walls) in addition to buildings. The
By-law will be enforced on a
complaint basis utilizing existing Municipal Law
Enforcement Officers (MLEO) within the Building
Division. MLEOs will undertake inspections
and issue work orders directing that graffiti be
removed within a reasonable time period (i.e.
two weeks) The MLEOs then have an option to
enter onto the property and have the graffiti
removed at the property owners expense.
How can graffiti be
prevented?
Immediate graffiti removal is key to successful
graffiti prevention. However, using Crime
Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
techniques, graffiti can be prevented for both
exiting buildings or during the design phase of
a development. CPTED techniques include
restricting or controlling access and employing
graffiti resistant coatings.
One way of preventing tagging is to restrict
access to a potential ‘canvas’ (surface areas
that could be tagged). This could involve using
fencing or vegetation, where appropriate. For
example, landscaping could be used to plant a
row of thorny shrubs along a wall to make access
to the wall more difficult, and also reduce the
surface area that could be tagged.
Less formal measures of controlling access
include using signage to distinguish between
public and private property and using colour and
texture to define areas private property. These
ideas make it clear who is trespassing on
private property and assists in laying charges
under the Trespass to Property Act. On private
property ‘natural ladders’ should also be
avoided. Limit access to roofs by moving
dumpsters away from walls and covering
drainpipes to prevent vandals from scaling them.
Techniques may be aimed at reducing the
availability of a suitable target for tagging –
such as minimizing solid vertical surface areas,
using rough textures, and landscaping. Rough
textures are less likely to be tagged than a
smooth surface. Surface treatments can be
applied when access cannot be restricted.
Commercial graffiti protective coatings are
available which allow subsequent tags to be
removed with a pressure washer.
Are art murals a
deterrent to graffiti?
A
clear distinction must be made to differentiate
between legal art (murals) and graffiti walls.
Several cities have allowed free graffiti walls
providing a canvas for unlimited tags. Free
walls are seen as a training ground for young
inexperienced taggers. They allow youth to
practice their “tags” or “pieces” only to
replicate them across the city on private
property and utility boxes. Many cities have
tried the concept of free graffiti walls and
have observed an increase in graffiti in the
neighbourhoods adjacent to the free graffiti
walls. It is not recommended that graffiti walls
be considered as a deterrent to graffiti.
Using murals on walls that are chronically
tagged with graffiti is a proven tool to prevent
graffiti. Taggers rarely deface murals or art
work. Several murals were painted on buildings
in the downtown in preparation to the 2005
Memorial Cup and in the majority of cases, most
murals were not tagged with graffiti. Once an
approved mural is completed, it is necessary
that the mural be coated with a graffiti proof
product to allow for easy and prompt removal of
graffiti.
In April 2006, Council requested London's
Culture Office to give consideration to other
creative means of dealing with graffiti, such as
the hiring of students to create murals as a
deterrent to graffiti. As part of a graffiti
strategy, the Culture Office will work with
MainStreet and the London Arts Project to
develop a creative art and youth education
program. This program will provide an outlet for
youth to constructively channel their energies
to get involved in their community and express
themselves creatively in the downtown. Later,
after monitoring the success of this initiative,
this program could be expanded to apply to other
areas of the City. This program will also
contain a proactive education component for
youth and the general public about how to
discourage and cleanup graffiti.
Links & Resources
Neighbourhood Watch
MainStreet London
Old East Village Business Improvement Area
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