A surveillance camera and two tag databases were used by police to identify between 700 and 800 graffiti-related offences in and around Geelong.

Thirty-six males aged between 23 and 15 have faced 386 charges between them.

Geelong District Inspector Shane Cole said each of the offenders had been asked to take part in the Deakin University study.

``It's unusual to have a large group of offenders in a short space of time,'' he said.

``It will be interesting to see what the drivers are, what gets them into the cliques.''

Deakin University criminologist Peter Lewis said the aim was to understand the motivation behind graffiti involvement and eventually target potential vandals before they start.

Insp Cole said police statistics had already shown the offenders were not from the areas the community traditionally associated with trouble.

The largest group of nine offenders was from Leopold, with seven from Grovedale and four from Newcomb.

``The public perception would be that offenders would come from the northern suburbs,'' Insp Cole said. ``The reality is that out of that number of offenders there was one from Norlane.''

Offenders were all male but ranged in age from 15 to 23. The majority were from the 15-18 and the18-21 bracket.

``Some of these young people really have taken responsibility for what they've done and really gone on, breaking their contact with the cliques,'' Insp Cole said.

Rapid removal by property owners had also been a proven tool against graffiti.

Geelong's co-ordinated effort against graffiti, between police, the council, Neighbourhood Watch, Police Community Consultative Committee, recently won a crime prevention award.