Time to address Dublin’s graffiti problem
Speech delivered during an adjournment debate in the Dáil today by John Gormley, TD for Dublin South East:
I would like to thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to once again raise the ever increasing problem of graffiti in our city. You may recall, Ceann Comhairle, that at the beginning of the summer I raised this issue in the hope that the Government would take action to deal with the problem, but sadly very little has been done and the complaints from constituents about this problem continue.
It seems that this Government consisting of Fianna Fail and the PDs does not recognise litter, dog dirt or graffiti as problems. They have been in power since 1997 and it has to be said they have done very little in relation to any of these issues. As we come closer to a general election I would give this commitment on behalf of my party – we will deal with these problems by introducing specific legislation and through a co-ordinated targeted approach - an approach which has worked elsewhere and will work here as well. On the question of graffiti I think we need to distinguish between what is known as ’street art’ and what is known as ‘tagging’. Much street-art has artistic merit and the Green Party believes that we ought to set up a dialogue between local authorities and street artists to provide areas where they can express themselves. There are many areas in the city where blank walls could be provided for street artists. I understand such a dialogues is already taking place between Dublin City Council and street artists and that five blank walls have been made available. We should also address the problem of shop shutters - which are ugly and a magnet for taggers. Shutters should be on the inside and if not perhaps they could be beautified by a street artist with the permission of the owner.
Graffiti known as tagging has very little artistic merit and amounts to nothing more than vandalism. In my constituency I have seen the walls of a pensioner’s house ruined with tagging, which consists of someone spraying their initials or some symbol to mark out their territory, so to speak, much like a dog or animal would do in the wild. In other cities throughout Europe such as Paris or Berlin , tagging has reached epidemic proportions. I have seen it not just on the walls of houses but also on playground equipment, on public transport and even inside public transport. Who has given these individuals the right to deface community and public property? Property which is in the ownership of all the people? Tagging is not just vandalism, it is mindless rampant individualism carried out by people who don’t give a toss about others in the community and yet it is tolerated. Yes we need investment in removing graffiti, but we must also introduce penalties as a deterrent. If, for example, as I have said here before, we had a proper dedicated unit within the Gardai and within the local authorities, working side by side, equipped with camcorders and digital cameras, we could very quickly determine who was carrying out this vandalism. These individuals should be named and shamed. And let’s not fall into the trap of thinking that those who engage in tagging or graffiti vandalism, as it ought to be known, are from deprived backgrounds. That I am afraid isn’t the case. No, many of these people are from well-off backgrounds.
I have seen very little political graffiti and if people do want to express themselves politically they can do so on the walls that ought to be provided or through political agitation. I don’t believe that the Criminal Damage Act 1991 and the Litter Pollution 1997 are adequate to deal with the increasing problem of graffiti vandalism.
Let’s contrast the lack of strategy or policy in Ireland and the coherent approach elsewhere. Say, New York for example. I have here a document called Combating Graffiti subtitled re-claiming the public spaces of New York. It’s a joint document signed by the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, and Raymond Kelly the Police Commissioner. It is a booklet which is handed out in the community defining what graffiti is, outlining the strategies to combat graffiti and giving useful phone numbers to call if you see graffiti vandalism taking place or if you want graffiti removed. In the section laws to combat graffiti, we are told that the New York City administrative code:
(a) “Penalizes acts commonly known as graffiti vandalism;
(b) bans anyone possessing aerosol spray paint or broad tipped indelible markers in a public building or facility with the intent to make graffiti;
(c) restricts the sale of these items to anyone under the age of eighteen years of age;
(d) prohibits sellers of aerosol spray paint and indelible markers from displaying these items in their store.
Additionally, other laws providing for parental liability for the malicious acts of their children may also be used to combat graffiti.” This document also outlines the role of the police force in preventing graffiti stating, “The Police Department has established a City-Wide Vandals Task Force. The task force will create and implement the strategies and tactics for dealing with graffiti vandalism and defacement of public and private property. The Task Force will also administer the Graffiti Rewards Program”. The Graffiti Rewards Program legislation says, “Members of the public are eligible for up to a five hundred dollars reward for reporting graffiti vandalism. The information must result in the arrest and conviction of individual(s) for violations of Administrative Code Provisions or Penal Law Statues regarding graffiti vandalism”.
Bakersfield, which has a quarter of the population of Dublin has:
· One police lieutenant – responsible for program over site, city council/ public referral / interdepartmental service coordination.
· One police sergeant – supervision of officers, coordination of police department personnel/services.
· One full time and one part time police officer – responsible for investigation and enforcement of graffiti offences in the East and West areas of command within the city.
The Graffiti Habitual Offenders Suppression Team provides training to the Operations Division, Crime Prevention staff, Kern High School District Police, Kern County Probation officers and other social service agencies who have frequent contact with taggers or potential taggers regarding the identification of graffiti and characteristics of taggers.
Crime Prevention in turn provides this information to the neighbourhood watch group and assists with public education including the dissemination of information to be circulated in areas where taggers and tagger groups appear to be most active.
Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team is available to educate private organizations and provide presentations to the public upon request.
The Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team utilizes reserve police officers for enforcement action, performing undercover operations and conducting surveillance on problem areas.
Compliance checks are conducted with retail businesses that sell paint products, to ensure they are following the City Ordinance/Penal Code with regard to the sale of pain products.
A zero tolerance attitude is taken with all individuals involved in illegal graffiti activity and tagging.
The Kern County Probation Department is committed to filing all juvenile graffiti and tagging cases. The probation department also provides supervision and additional resources for graffiti cover up.
The full time graffiti enforcement officer also works with the city attorney’s office community prosecutor for filing of adult graffiti tagging cases; and payment of restitution related to graffiti damage.
Minister, it’s time to address this problem.