Graffiti presents a large ongoing crime prevention problem:
- The population undertaking graffiti is relatively large and renewed each year
- Graffiti remediation costs are high
- Graffiti is easy to do
- Graffiti is easy to undertake without getting caught
- There are a large number of graffiti targets
- It is hard to protect many graffiti potential targets
- Those undertaking graffiti have a large suite of graffiti techniques
- New graffiti techniques are invented easily and quickly (a recent example was weedkiller graffiti on a playing field)
A range of graffiti reduction strategies have been developed ranging from simple techniques such as anti-graffiti paints to intensive city-wide multi-stakeholder graffiti reduction programs.
Evaluation of strategies, techniques and programs is not straightforward because of the fluid nature of graffiti attack modes. Attempting to assess the bang for buck of the value of graffiti reduction per dollar of public funding is even more difficult.
We have gathered together some material on approaches to reduce graffiti and ways that graffiti reduction programs have been evaluated and will upload them soon. Watch this space!
