I will crack down on graffiti


27 September 2005 11:49

Norwich police today unveiled a new weapon in the fight against vandalism and criminal damage in the city.

PC David Jerman has been handed a brand new role as a criminal damage prevention officer and instantly pledged to clean up the graffiti which blights walls around Norwich and South Norfolk.

He has been given the task of driving down vandalism and criminal damage, including eyesore graffiti, in his new role.

He said: “We have been extremely successful in the past two years in driving down key crimes - burglary, vehicle crime and robberies have all fallen dramatically,” said PC Jerman, who will be based at Bethel Street police station in the city.

“Now we want to improve life for our communities even further. Criminal damage is one of the most common crimes we see and it directly affects individuals in a number of ways, but always causing annoyance, inconvenience and expense.

“It will be a real challenge to prevent and reduce offences of damage, but I am confident that working with our partners in schools, the local authorities and the community, we can make a difference.”

PC Jerman said police wanted to focus on the crime by identifying problem areas and putting measures in place to stop the damage in the first place and catch those people who are committing it.

“My role is completely new and there is a lot of work to do in the coming months,” he said.

“In the next few weeks I will focus on a number of areas, including graffiti in the city centre, and highlighting criminal damage flashpoints such as Halloween and Bonfire night, when we have seen increases in these offences in the past.”

Tackling the issue of graffiti on our streets is just one area which he plans to address immediately.

“This is an area where we do receive complaints - graffiti blights neighbourhoods and makes them unsightly,” said PC Jerman.

“It can be offensive and damages street furniture and is removed at huge expense to the taxpayer. I want to especially appeal to parents to prevent youngsters misusing marker pens and spray paint.

“It is an offence to possess an item with the intention of causing damage and a person who has a spray can or marker pen runs the risk of arrest and prosecution.”

PC Jerman is appealing for information about the graffiti tag in this picture of St Miles Bridge, just off Coslany Street in Norwich.

“It's an attractive bridge with a nice view over the river but it has been repeatedly defaced with graffiti,” he said.

“The damage was removed at great expense by Norwich City Council's Graff-Off team but this tag has recently reappeared.

“I would like to appeal for anyone who saw the damage being done or who may know who is responsible to contact me as soon as possible.

In 2004/05 Norwich City Council spent £77,000 removing graffiti from our streets.

Kristina Raines, a spokeswoman for Norwich police, said they got about 50 reports of criminal damage per week in the immediate city centre area alone.

“Graffiti is a proportion of these reports but we believe it is an under-reported crime,” she said.