Chances are you're it. That is to say that your house, garage or shed was vandalized by a young and aimless tagger. That is, a mindless kid who has nothing better to do than to spray graffiti all over the place. And all over the place it is. On mailboxes, on garbage cans, on garages and sheds, on fences and statues, on commercial property, on rail cars, everywhere. Old Walkerville has more than it's fair share too. Just this week the kiddies tagged a couple of the stone fence pillars of Willistead. They were just cleaned up last year. There's no argument. It's not art as some would like to claim. Not here in Windsor anyway. At best it's just doodle. It is always vandalism.
So how do we make it go away? The obvious place to start is at the dinner table. We have to talk to our kids and instill in them why it is so wrong and so lame. The schools should have a part in this education too. The crime needs a fitting punishment. Perhaps in the form of fines to parents who's children are caught defacing property. Maybe some community service. Graffiti victims should be given a strict time line to clean up their properties as well. Sounds harsh; maybe even wrong but its not. Don't forget the rest of us have to look at this stuff too. For example, who wants to eat at a restaurant where the proprietors seem unphazed by the unsightly tattoos on their establishments? What might that say about their own practice? The rest is elbow grease. We have to eliminate graffiti as soon as possible after it arrives. We have to let these aimless kids know that their scratch is only temporary at best and certainly not worth their while. Their efforts to get a rise out of people are in vain.
The bottom line is that we need personal and civic action plans. On a personal level all we have to do is advocate what is right and what is wrong and if we get tagged we have to eliminate the doodle right away. On a broader plain we need the municipality to take charge and start to penalize those who tag and those who don't remove the tags from their properties. We have to keep our house clean. The rest will take care of itself.
11 comments:
I think a big misconception is that this is all being done by teenagers. If you track several of the most recent cases in Windsor and London you'll find that it's most often 20 to 25 year olds who are doing a majority of the graffiti. One recent tagger in the West end "Neo" was in fact a 23 year old University student responsible for over 30 acts of graffiti. When he was caught tagging a TD bank in the West End, he had a photo ablum with him documenting his "artwork" throughout the area. Our previous office location was hit numerous times by this individual. Within a week of cleaning up the tags, they would reappear. I don't know any business that wants their location degraded by graffiti, but eventually the cost in time and materials becomes too much. Somehow we must find a balance in dealing with this issue that does not simply penalize the business owner over and over.
First and for most, Graffiti in NOT ART. If I drive on your front lawn and do doughnuts ripping up your lawn can I call that ART? No that destruction of property. The only people who appreciate Graffiti are the CRIMINALS who create it. That’s why “Taggers”
Run and hide. That’s why they don’t stand up and take responsibility for what they call art. It’s the tree falls in the forest story. If it falls and no one is there to hear it did it make a sound? If a tagger tags but doesn’t take responsibility for his work is he really an artist or just a punk?
What I would like to know is what information the City (Police) have in regards to profiling Taggers. How do we watch out for them? What should we be looking for? Also I agree the punishment for Taggers should be harsh. I think the City needs to be more vigilant catching these Taggers. Offer rewards for information leading to an arrest. How many teenagers or university students do you think would turn their buddy if they were offered cash?
Also I support Councilor Halberstadt’s indicative to make it illegal for young people to purchase spray paint. Anything that will decrease the possibility of tagging is a benefit to the community. What are other cities doing? What solutions do others have? I read somewhere a while back where one neighborhood in the states hired a Private Investigator to catch the Taggers. The investigator was able to build a case on two individuals and the graffiti in the neighborhood stopped. Does the City need to hire P.I.’s?
I also believe that property owners should try to remain as vigilant as possible when it comes to removing graffiti. If the Tagger keeps retuning then the property owner must keep pace. Notify the police that the Tagger keeps returning. If a Tagger can come up with the cash to continue Tagging then the property owner should be able to keep pace.
Interesting bbs...
I do recall the TD Bank example. I think there's something deeper going on when a 23 year old (a person who is 1/3 of the way through life) has such an obsession. Definately something lacking in his life. Hmmm...The need to scream: " I did that!"
Sad to say that the photo album has gone the way of cyberspace. Now these need for famers are using the likes of "Google Earth" to document their crimes. All you have to do is search for any city (Windsor included) and hover over the pin locations. What comes up a lot of the time are graffiti locations.
Curious bbs...Sounds like you've had your share of frustration with tags. Do you mind sharing some of the details? For example what did you do to clean up the mess and what was the cost? What time of day does it seem to be occuring etc.?
F.Y.I...From today's Windsor Star:
"GRAFFITI ARTISTS CAUGHT IN ACT"
"Police used a fire department ladder to apprehend a pair of youths believed to have been spraying graffiti on a building overnight Wednesday.
Windsor Police were called to a medical building in the 9800 block of Tecumseh Road East at around midnight after a person working inside heard noises coming from the roof.
The Windsor Fire and Rescue Service was called to provide a ladder for police to reach the roof.
Officers climbed up and found the two suspects hiding in an enclosed area on the roof.
Police discovered freshly painted designs on a heating system and along the walls.
FOUND DUFFEL BAG
Officers also found a duffel bag containing five cans of spray paint nearby.
Two youths are to appear in court today on charges of mischief.
One of the youths is facing an additional charge of breach of probation."
Timely or all the time? Let's see if we get more details on this one from the Windsor Police and the Windsor Star. For example what is the profile of these taggers and for what crime(s)is one of them on probation for?
http://www.cleanlink.com/cp/article.asp?id=1131
How about a test & report on that "graffiti remover" and a cost analysis so we know if it really works.
Sorry for not responding earlier, forgot to drop back in.
The first time we cleaned up the graffiti took about 10 hours and 3 coats of paint. The wall was hit again within 48 hrs. The spot in question was a high profile location on University Ave.
The next three times it was cleaned by volunteers from the City of Windsor. The last time it was hit, we simply left it up there.
As a tenant in this particular location we were not responsible for outside maintenance, that was the owners job. As a small business owner we really weren't keen on spending any more money on something that we weren't obligated to under our lease.
Apparently there is an anti-graffiti coating that can be applied to a building to make it easier to wash off, but it is expensive.
Forgot one thing, to answer your other question. The building was always hit very early in the morning - between 2 to 5am. The galling thing about it was that we were actually in the building every time it was hit.
Andrew at International Metropolis just posted a picture of a particularly nasty bit of graffiti.
Windsor Graffiti
The tag says Josh. And hoping that the parents will sort this out is laughable.
Reported graffiti in my alley late last week to 311. Today the city is back there cleaning it up. Not bad! And no I don't live next to the mayor. ;)
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