Graffiti on the Rise in Kamloops

(Aired on August 3, 2010)

The city’s graffiti problem is suddenly getting worse, and there doesn’t seem to be much going on to slow it down. Driving around the city recently, it was amazing to see how much the problem has increased in the past few months. We hear nothing from the city’s graffiti task force, whose leader, Gord Giles, passed away earlier this year. I don’t know if anyone has succeeded him yet, but the city has to get on this problem quickly. I assume from some of the places where graffiti is suddenly showing up that there must be some new taggers out there who have come to the fore.

Some of the graffiti isn’t the result of traditional taggers. It’s amateur writing that is just sprayed on by people bent on vandalism. I don’t know how you track these people down, but we have to find a way to do that. Graffiti is something that not only looks bad, it is perceived by many as a threat because, while it doesn’t amount to physical violence, it makes people uneasy about their safety, and they’re concerned when it happens in their neighbourhood.

One of the best defences against graffiti, of course, is to wipe it out and paint over it as soon as it happens. But if that isn’t done - and I don’t see much evidence that it is - then it’s like a snowball, and just grows and grows.

The city is the leader here. They have to be, because much of the problem appears on their property. They have to commit to getting rid of it, and they have to put resources in place to track down and prosecute the offenders.

People who perceive graffiti as a minor problem just don’t get it. Psychologically, both for the residents and for the attackers, it’s not good. For the residents, a sense of uneasiness, for the taggers, a sense of power that can often lead to more brazen and much more serious acts. If you get away with tagging, how long before you start stealing? There is a definite correlation. Mayor and Council need to take some initiative here. I understand tagging is more common in the summer, with the warm weather, but that doesn’t lessen the necessity for dealing with what is a very serious and expensive problem.