Auckland Council Graffiti Vandalism Prevention Service Graffiti vandalism (tagging) is a community issue which can lower property values and encourage more vandalism and other types of offenses. It’s a crime associated with reduced perceptions of safety, increased criminal activity and perceived community instability. Within a community it can also be viewed as an indicator that more serious crimes are present or have the potentialtotakeplace. A strong community response sends the clear message to those involved that tagging will not be tolerated. The successful management of graffiti vandalism is essential for Auckland Council to achieve outcomes relating to enhancing community safety and wellbeing. The success of our graffiti prevention service is measured through the number of graffiti incidents removed and requests for service. Wealsoreceiveindependentauditstwiceayear, includingavisualauditandacustomer feedbackaudit. The focus of our service providers is ‘prevention first’. This delivered through: • Rapid removal of graffiti within 24 hours • Rapid removal within two hours for offensive vandalism • Providing feedback to customers who reported incidents of graffiti. Rapid removal is the most successful aspect in preventing graffiti as it removes one of the key
drivers for committing the offence – the name or tag recognition. Recreational Services Limited is the service provider for the northern areas of Auckland. They deliver a rapid eradication and restoration service across council’s scope of assets, which covers councilpropertyandresidentialproperty,alongwith smallcommercialpropertybytheowner’spermission. The number of graffiti incidents in Rodney decreased by 22 percent from January 2021 to June 2021, and the number of requests for graffiti removal increased from six to 10, compared to the same period in 2020. The Rodney Local Board area scored 100 percent during the March 2021 visual survey, and these excellent results can partly be credited to consistent reporting of graffiti by members of the public. If graffiti vandals are spotted in the act of committing the offense, the first point of call should be the Police. Incidents of graffiti vandalism can be reported to the Auckland Council Call Centre on (09) 303 0101 or submitted on the council website via the ‘Report graffiti vandalism online’ tool.
Members of the public can also report incidents directly to Recreational Services Limited on (09) 443 5011 or 0800 265 000, and through e-mail to info@rs.kiwi.nz.
For general information on the graffiti removal service, I can be contacted directly by e-mail:etienne.shamley@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. By Etienne Shamley Auckland Council Graffiti Vandalism Prevention senior Page 49
