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WHAT IS GRAFFITI
Understanding the reality of graffiti vandalism, its true social and financial costs, and how 24-hour removal breaks the chain reaction.
Graffiti is the common name that is given to anything that is painted, written or spray-painted on walls, doors, trains and buses or anywhere the taggers feel like doing it. It is sometimes regarded as ART, (usually by the taggers themselves) but to the majority of law abiding people it is seen as unsightly and vandalism.
Graffiti is seen by some as a victimless crime, but the facts are very clear for all to see. The presence of graffiti in an area decreases property values, leads to other anti social behaviour and affects the quality of life for the people who live in the area.
The cost of removing graffiti is an enormous drain on the people that it affects, such as the business owner who has to pay to remove graffiti from his shop; public transport who have to replace windows that have been etched with acid; the schools who can’t buy sports equipment or computers because of extra costs of removal, the government and local authorities who have to spend money removing graffiti that has been earmarked for other projects such as roads, waste activities, local parks and community buildings.
The people who are losing out are the community as a whole by the very people who live amongst us. There is another cost, which you cannot put a monetary value on such as fear, stress and the whole process of trying to remove graffiti if you have never done it before.
Most graffiti taggers like to work under the cover of darkness or be hidden away from public view. Many will have a book with them that will have drawings in it, which they simply copy on to the surface.
Many feel that by doing it on railway bridges or underpasses of motorways will expose them to a greater audience but this usually brings them a greater presence of danger.
If you see a tagger at work, you should never approach them. The best course of action is to ring your local police station (or Garda station) or 999.
Studies have found worldwide that graffiti that is removed within twenty-four hours is less likely to be re offended as against graffiti that is left.
Graffiti that is not removed leads to a chain reaction of many instances of graffiti.
Our technicians strive to remove graffiti within 48 hours of confirmation, with emergency removal in less than 12 hours for offensive tags in Greater Manchester.