Nice weather could mean more graffiti around town
Posted June 3, 2018 2:41 pm.
Last Updated June 3, 2018 2:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – Don’t be surprised if you start to notice more graffiti around your neighbourhood over the next few months.
Police say there’s a slight uptick in street art around this time every year.
New Westminster Police Chief Dave Jones says there are a few reasons for this. “Better weather, drier surfaces, you know that whole idea it’s not unusual to be out late at night.”
He says the best defence is to take action right away.
“One of the biggest things that comes to help about discouraging graffiti is the immediate clean up of it. Remember, if someone’s putting a sign or writing something up, they want it to be seen and visible.”
So if your property is targetted, Jones says don’t ignore it. “What we’ve seen is, if you get on it right away either by cleaning it up or painting it over right away, you discourage it. And it reduces it about coming back.”
As for investigating who is behind the unwanted spray paint, Jones admits it can be tough. However, he points out a lot of graffiti artists use unique tags.
“Once you do identify the person one time, you can almost follow backwards to see where they have been doing graffiti in other places,” he says. “You can almost follow like an artist’s style and tagging, and link them to an individual.”
The most severe penalty would be a charge of mischief under the Criminal Code and a jail sentence, but that doesn’t happen too often. Jones says police prefer to use restorative justice for people who are caught.
