Auckland City Council
Media release
1 September 2009

Putting a cap on graffiti vandalism

Auckland City Council’s Zero Tolerance to graffiti vandalism programme has taken huge steps towards eliminating graffiti vandalism from the city during the past year.

Since a new eradication service was introduced in July 2008, almost 60,000 sites have been cleaned, and 98 offenders have been apprehended.

All graffiti is being photographed and entered into a graffiti tracker database to help identify offenders The top ten offenders are being regularly targeted and apprehended.

The result has been fewer requests from the public to clean up graffiti sites.

The new eradication service has been recognised as successful best practice and has seen many other local authorities express an interest in the approach, including Tauranga and Christchurch who are using it as a business model.

The zero tolerance programme has had a further confidence boost by successfully securing grants totalling $65,000 from the Ministry of Justice Crime Prevention Unit to fund new initiatives in 2009/10.

Community Services chairperson, Councillor Paul Goldsmith, says that the funding will allow the council to build on the good work already being accomplished.

“It’s great to see tangible results being achieved through the new service. The council is serious about combating graffiti vandalism in the city and the grant we have received will allow us to continue making positive progress,” he says.

Part of the funding was awarded to the council to deliver its “can-do, zero tolerance to graffiti vandalism” project in the coming year.

The central idea of the project is to make it harder for graffiti vandals to get access to materials such as spray paint.

The project will educate retailers about their responsibility, under the Summary Offences Act (1981), to restrict the sale of spray paint to those under 18 and the consequences of non-compliance.

“By delivering targeted actions designed to improve the overall level of compliance amongst retailers we expect to make it significantly harder for vandals to get access to the materials they desire, thereby reducing the level of their offending,” says Mr Goldsmith.

The council also continues to work in partnership with local residents in the war against graffiti vandalism, with 703 volunteers helping to keep their communities graffiti free.

The public can report graffiti vandalism for removal through the council’s call centre on 379 2020. The council also encourages the public to call 0800 STOP TAGS (0800 7867 8247) with any information they have about graffiti vandals and their associates.

ENDS

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