Graffiti tagger forced to clean up his act

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Criminal record and a scrubbing brush for 'PYRO' art campaign

Over the last ten months, a new graffiti tag, ‘PYRO’, appeared across Brentford and Chiswick on Network Rail, Council and private property.

Following a number of reports of this anti-social crime, local police in Chiswick and Brentford collaborated in the investigation of these offences. After extensive enquiries in the affected communities, the offender, a local youth, was arrested.

Earlier this month, he was convicted for the ten-month graffiti campaign during which he criminally damaged property.

Part of his punishment involved cleaning off some of the tags he created. The work was carried out under the supervision of PC Whitehouse, and in partnership with the Council’s anti-graffiti team.

Chiswick Sector Inspector, Tim Smith, said: “This was a difficult but successful investigation, which required co-operation between two Safer Neighbourhood teams and the local communities that were affected.

“Our Sector plans underline our commitment to tackle anti-social crime, and we will continue to take a tough stance against crimes of this nature.”

Hounslow’s Community Liaison Officer, Inspector Adrian Baxter, said: “Many young people don’t realise that tagging is a criminal offence which could lead to fines or even imprisonment.

“Apart from the criminal aspect, graffiti has far-reaching effects, both environmentally and socially, affecting local residents and visitors to the area.

“This behaviour is unacceptable, and I would encourage anyone who knows anything about the identity of other tags and taggers in the borough to contact their local police station, or call CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Not such a success story over in Ealing borough as, despite receiving commendations from residents and councillors of all parties, Ealing's anti-graffiti unit is being closed down in a bid to save money - with its functions absorbed into the Response Programme.

Ealing Council wants to use area enforcement officers to report and action graffiti jobs. However, Ealing Conservatives point out that the axing of the dedicated graffiti unit would result in a downgrading in priority, as area enforcement officers already deal with a huge variety of other issues including abandoned cars, street cleansing, and flytipping.

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Jason Stacey claimed that changes would guarantee more graffiti going unchecked in the Borough. He said “The graffiti unit has been a great success in offering passion and commitment to cleaning up Ealing’s streets. It’s only defect has been the paucity of resources given to it by Labour, and now this cash strapped Council wants to axe it completely to fund the white elephant it calls Response. By submerging graffiti monitoring into a unit with a plethora of other functions, the Council are guaranteeing that graffiti will not get the same attention.”

 

September 14, 2005