TAXPAYERS are being hit with clean-up bills

 

Sunday Herald Sun
Edition 1 - FIRSTSUN 07 APR 2002, Page 025
This mess is costing you $25m each year
By SHELLEY HODGSON, Police reporter

TAXPAYERS are being hit with clean-up bills amounting to millions of dollars as ``crews'' of graffiti vandals rampage across Melbourne.
Some estimates put the cost at $25 million a year as the blight escalates and community groups call for tougher penalties.
The staggering figures have emerged as the State Government considers a ban on spray can sales to minors, and giving police power to make graffiti vandals clean up their work.
Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said the Ministerial Crime Prevention Council was looking at a raft of measures to tackle the graffiti scourge.
He hopes to have the review within weeks.
Public transport operator National Express Group revealed this week that graffiti and vandalism cost it up to $12 million last year.
The group, which operated M>Train, M>Tram, V/Line and the National Bus Company, was experimenting with a new anti-graffiti paint, said spokesperson Libby Fordham.
Wattyl has developed the coating which allows graffiti to be washed off with water.
Connex has spent about $10 million since August 1999 to clean off graffiti.
The State Opposition is also considering options for its anti-graffiti policy.
A Herald Sun survey of 31 metropolitan councils last November found graffiti on public toilets, playgrounds and council buildings cost ratepayers almost $3 million a year to clean up.
Shadow Attorney-General Robert Dean said possible policies included banning those caught for graffiti offences from obtaining a driver's licence until the age of 20.
The Opposition is also considering a hotline to report graffiti, and encouraging the public to take photographs of graffiti vandals' signatures -- called tags -- for a database.
Opposition Leader Denis Napthine has indicated the possibility of a Private Member's Bill to ban spray paint sales to minors.
An anti-graffiti group, Residents Against Graffiti Everywhere (RAGE), wants to ban a computer game in which players spray ``tags'' across a ``virtual'' city.
Some Melbourne councils are giving free tins of paint to graffiti victims, employing companies to clean off graffiti, establishing hotlines, installing camera surveillance, and setting up databases and education programs.
The City of Melbourne spent $210,000 in a crackdown in November and December, removing 10,500sq m of graffiti in the retail centre, laneways, Queen Victoria Market precinct, Southbank promenade and Errol and Lygon street shopping centres.
It contacted all hardware stores within 5km of the CBD and urged them to keep spray paints secure.
RAGE spokesman Steve Beardon said graffiti was spreading. ``In the last two years, graffiti and vandalism really have skyrocketed, they are epidemic,'' Mr Beardon said.
Melbourne graffiti ``crews'' are taking their destruction to a wider audience, plastering hundreds of photographs of their ``pieces'' on the Internet.
According to one website, the crews have names including Tax Payer's Nightmare (TPN); Destroying Met Services (DMS); Kill, Crush, Destroy (KCD); and Unstoppable Vandals (UV).
Mr Beardon said the names indicated the crews were out to do wilful damage ``and they don't hide the fact''.
Formed in June, 2000, RAGE is a lobby group of more than 300 residents. It wants tougher penalties for graffiti vandals and councils to take a tougher stance.
``The more councils that hop on board, the more chance we have got of having a uniformly clean state,'' Mr Beardon said.
RAGE advocates rapid graffiti removal but Mr Beardon said websites diminished its deterrent effect.
``The kid is actually winning and getting the recognition he is looking for and the permanency he is looking for,'' Mr Beardon said.
The State Government has funded 100 roving officers to patrol suburban trains.
Last May, Victoria Police launched an undercover squad to roam Melbourne's public transport system.
Ms Fordham said National Express Group had recently set up a unit to examine ways to curb anti-social behaviour.
The unit discussed methods with UK police this month.
M>Train will also spend $1.5 million this year upgrading closed circuit television and lighting at stations.
``One of the biggest problems with vandals is as soon as vandalism or graffiti is reported to us we have to pull a tram or a train or a bus off the network,'' Ms Fordham said.
This was costly and inconvenienced commuters.
Mr Haermeyer said the Ministerial Crime Prevention Council was looking at ways councils could help residents to clean graffiti off their property.
Experience showed if graffiti was cleaned quickly, vandals were unlikely to return.
The committee was also considering a voluntary retail code -- or a legal ban -- to stop the sale of spray cans to children.
It was also looking at how to deal with youths caught.
``I tend to think there is an option as an alternative to sending them to court -- in seeing what is involved in giving the police the power to make them clean it up -- not only their own graffiti but then some,'' Mr Haermeyer said.
Trials have seen some offenders on community-based and intensive corrections orders forced to clean graffiti.
Mr Haermeyer said graffiti was not a major crime but created an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness.
But there had been a huge improvement in the appearance of public transport.
``There has been a significant reduction in graffiti over the years,'' Mr Haermeyer said.
``But there are still areas where there are significant problems with graffiti.''

GRAFFITI SPEAK
GRAFFITI crew terminology, according to a Melbourne website:
BITE: To copy a writer without consent.
BOMB/BOMBING: Prolific painting or marking of a tag with any instrument capable of marking a surface.
BROTHERS: Graffiti crew members.
BUFF: Graffiti removal by authorities.
BUNNY: A graffiti groupie.
BURNER: A complete, excellent piece.
CAP: To paint over a piece.
DEF: Something a writer associates with and likes.
DOPE: A great piece of graffiti.
HANG-OUTS: Tagging the outside of a train via window or door while it's moving.
HIT: To make an attack on a surface.
KILL: Bombing every markable place.
KING: The best writers.
LEGAL: Graffiti done with permission.
NARK: Person who informs the authorities.
PIECE: Short for masterpiece. A painting of words and/or pictures with spray paint.
PIECE BOOK: A writer's sketch book.
PUBLIC: A style of lettering that is simple so it can be read by the public.
RACK: To obtain items such as spray cans, markers and painting illegally.
SICK: Graffiti with a lot of risk.
STATIC: Any kind of trouble.
TOY: Someone who is not good.
TRASH: To bomb prolifically.
WAK: Something that has no style.

HOW TO STOP IT
APPROPRIATE garden planting is one of the cheapest and most effective methods.
INSTALL set sprinkler systems to start during times that graffiti artists are active.
INSTALL sensor lighting.
USE anti-graffiti coatings on high-risk areas, which make removal easier. Check with paint shops. Also, use dark coloured materials and textured or rough surfaces.
SEGREGATE large areas with a series of surface breaks to minimise flow and continuity for the graffiti vandals.
MAINTAIN your property; poorly maintained properties attract graffiti.
REMOVAL of graffiti within 24 hours is ideal -- the paint is easier to remove and vandals' messages get limited exposure. It is important to first check with paint shop for an appropriate solvent.
PAINTING out graffiti may be the most efficient and cost-effective option and may reduce repeated attacks. Sealants will prevent the graffiti from bleeding through after painting. Dark colours less likely to attract repeat attacks.
REPORT graffiti to police.
ATTACH a photo of the graffiti to the report to help police identify the offender.
ATTACH removal costs to the report to facilitate claiming restitution in court or to make an insurance claim.
REPORT graffiti on government property owned by VicRoads or transport, gas and electricity companies on the phone number displayed on the property or listed in the phone directory.
Caption:  Art for no one's sake: Taxpayers foot the huge bill to remove graffiti, such as this effort near an inner-suburban railway station.