Graffiti sends wrong message If not cleaned up

Graffiti sends wrong message
If not cleaned up, graffiti indicates ‘all-clear’ for other criminals

Anne Beaty
Echo Editor

ART? NOT! Graffiti is evident on several downtown buildings and surfaces.

Anne Beaty photo

Airdrie Echo — When it comes to graffiti, the City of Airdrie is not amused.
The city is taking a proactive stance with a problem which has reared its ugly head once again, with the culprits’ handiwork evident in and around the downtown and other West Airdrie areas.
"It’s everywhere," said Dave Rimes, Airdrie parks department spokesman.
Last week, several businesses and even a semi-trailer parked on Edmonton Trail were defaced. The vandals also had the audacity to strike at the Airdrie RCMP detachment.
"We actually had our sign defaced here, as well," Airdrie RCMP Const. Gloria Chisholm said.
For the city, when it comes to this type of vandalism, knowledge is power and parks department members recently attended an information session on graffiti at an Alberta Recreation and Parks Association conference. The result was a better understanding of graffiti, those who perpetrate the vandalism and what can be done about the problem.
"The biggest thing ... is to clean it up as soon as possible," Rimes said, adding that if graffiti is not removed, it can indicate that an area is not cared for, which can then lead to other types of criminal activity in the vicinity.
Chisholm agreed.
"People think that ... they don’t care about their property," she said.
Within the city, the graffiti problem has been encountered before and most of it, including the latest manifestation, is thought to be the work of one or a few individuals.
"The majority of it is not gang-type-related ... it is just what’s called ‘taggers,’" Rimes said.
This sort of graffiti is not usually terribly elaborate, but rather an individual’s mark or name and it’s not just young people who are responsible.
"The profile of a tagger can be anybody from 13 to 40," he said.
One of the more successful programs used in other municipalities, and now in Airdrie, involves young people – who have been identified as being at high risk – becoming youth ambassadors and helping clean up graffiti-ridden areas. The idea, Rimes said, is to get the young people involved in taking care of their own community. The aim is to not only eradicate the graffiti, but to instil a sense of pride and ownership, as well, he said.
For all members of the community, the three Rs – record (take a photograph, so a record can be kept of identifying characteristics), report (to police and city officials) and remove (as soon as possible) – are a good starting point. In the meantime, residents are encouraged to keep an eye out and to come forward with any information to Airdrie RCMP or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
"Graffiti is the first criminal activity to happen," Rimes said. "Airdrie’s a young community and I don’t think that people want to have that unsafe feeling."