Graffiti Hurts^® eNews
December 2009

HEADLINE NEWS

TAGS Anti-Graffiti Symposium Wrap-Up

The TAGS 2009 Anti-Graffiti Symposium was held on October 21-22 in Victoria, B.C., Canada and hosted by The Township of Esquimalt and the Victoria Police Department. These two organizations have worked together since 2006 on ETAG, Esquimalt Together Against Graffiti. ETAG has successfully reduced graffiti in Esquimalt by 90% since 2006.

The 2009 Anti-Graffiti Symposium was an invigorating avenue of information and networking. A representative of Graffiti Hurts^® attended the conference and had an opportunity to present information about its community resources to 188 attendees and 22 speakers from six different countries—including Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and Sweden.

The objective of the 2009 TAGS Anti-Graffiti Symposium was to educate law enforcement agencies, local governments and the general public about issues of graffiti crime in their communities and to clarify some questions about graffiti: Who is doing it? What does it mean? How do we investigate it? How do we prevent it and what kind of community programs are out there to deal with the growing issue of graffiti crime?

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New Zealand Survey Confirms "Fame," "Risk Taking," and "Self-Expression" Motivate Taggers

A new survey of more than 700 taggers—aged 14 to 40—conducted by Victoria University's Institute of Criminology and commissioned by the New Zealand Ministry of Justice, reveals some of what motivates graffiti vandalism.

The $25,000 survey and focus groups, titled Tagging and Graffiti: Attitudes and Experiences of Young New Zealanders, was reported in the New Zealand Herald. Of those interviewed, 42.5% either tagged or had done so at some point.

Most taggers (46.8%) reported that there was nothing that would prompt them to stop tagging. And 20.3% of taggers and 23.9% of "sometimes" taggers said that police apprehension would make them stop tagging. The illegality of graffiti only made it more attractive to most respondents (22.9%). The main reason for tagging was creative expression (47.2%).

Public spaces such as alleyways, bus shelters and power boxes were the most common targets for graffiti, followed by public buildings such as schools, private residences, waste grounds and private businesses. The report is still to undergo a final peer review process so information is subject to change.

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Graffiti Removal Key Focus of 2009 Great American Cleanup

Keep America Beautiful's 2009 Great American Cleanup brought together over 3 million volunteers and 1,000 grassroots organizations to transform their communities at more than 30,000 events in 32,000 locations nationwide. The 2009 campaign theme, "Green Starts Here," rallied communities around 15,600 graffiti cleanup events. Read about events in Asheville, N.C. and Buffalo, N.Y.

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GRAFFITI EDUCATION TOOLS

New Anti-Graffiti Book for Kids

The Gross Graffiti Cover-Up, for readers ages 4-8, from Reaping Nature Productions, is now available for purchase. Readers are introduced to Petunia Garner™, Echo the Squirrel™ and the Green Team (Terry, Evie, Andre and Min) in this story about graffiti, vandalism, and teamwork. Books are available for purchase for $7.00 at Reaping Nature's Web site.

Comic Book Targets Preventing Graffiti to the Young Adult Market

Together Against Graffiti, an Arizona nonprofit dedicated to organizing local stakeholders around graffiti prevention, has produced Troubling Signs, a comic book targeted to young adults. This 34-page book is the story of two youth who start out tagging and end up in two very different places. A teaching guide is included in the book, which is available for $3.00. Contact Linda Kleiner at desert25841@cox.net to order.

COMMUNITY FOCUS

Bakersfield Anti-Graffiti Task Force "Adopt-a-Mailbox" Program Wins Award

The Bakersfield Police Department and Keep Bakersfield Beautiful Anti-Graffiti Task Force program, "Adopt-a-Mailbox," has won a Keep America Beautiful national Distinguished Service Citation award.

According to Tony Martinez, Community Relations Specialist, Bakersfield Police Department's Crime Prevention Unit, the program gives residents an opportunity to put beauty—and pride—back in neighborhood. "We're now seeing mailboxes previously covered with graffiti with none, because the graffiti is being removed immediately.

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Terre Haute Partners Come Together to "Wipe Out Graffiti"

At Terre Haute's National Night Out in August of this year, the City announced a new partnership for a city-wide pilot program to help fight growing graffiti vandalism. At the city-wide cleanup in October there would also be a graffiti abatement initiative. The City would partner with Keep Terre Haute Beautiful, The Sherwin-Williams Company, and the Terre Haute Police Department to organize this initiative.

The Sherwin-Williams Company donated paint and other supplies for the October "Terre Haute Wipes Out Graffiti" event and the police helped to identify and secure cleanup locations. Keep Terre Haute Beautiful and Downtown Terre Haute, Inc. rounded up the volunteers, which included a local high school basketball team.

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U.S. Soldiers Join With Korean Hikers to Remove Graffiti Vandalism

A group of U.S. Military personnel have joined hands with Korean hikers to remove graffiti from mountain rocks, taking three trips between June and early November to clean up Mt. Sapae in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul. U.S. Air Force Major David Abrahamson from Minneapolis, Minn., led the effort. (Photo Courtesy of David Abrahamson.)

Abrahamson started the "Hike-and-Scrape Mission" after meeting Jeon Jong-cheon, a clerk at a tailor shop near the Yongsan Army base in Seoul, and leader of a hiking club. "Jeon had the idea of mopping off graffiti and suggested I join him. I thought it was a good idea," Abrahamson told The Korea Times. "It would be wonderful to have the U.S. army in the mission."

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