By BRIDGET COOK
CASEY police hope that getting tough on graffiti in Hampton Park will have a flow-on effect and reduce other crimes in the suburb.
They have been working with the City of Casey and local shopkeepers to come up with an overarching strategy to tackle the problem of graffiti throughout the area.
Senior Sergeant Paul Marshall from Cranbourne Police said the suburb was the worst hit in the municipality so police wanted to do something about it.
He said police would be running a number of operations, including covert patrols, and working with the council’s Local Laws officers and security guards to tackle the vandalism problem, particularly around the central business district.
“There is a high level of graffiti going on in Hampton Park,” he said.
“We are working to gather intelligence – when the graffiti is happening, who is doing it and matching different tags.
“We will also be working to remove any graffiti that goes up as soon as possible.
“Our aim is to make it hard for those doing the graffiti to keep their vandalism up.
“We want it gone so quickly that those doing will move on and, hopefully, see it as a pointless exercise altogether and stop doing it.”
Sen Sgt Marshall said police believed that tackling the graffiti problem would also see a reduction in other crimes in the area.
“This is all about lifting the image of the suburb and, hopefully, as a result, people will look after it better,” he said.
“If it looks like a loved, cleaner suburb, we believe it lifts the profile.
“If they are not there doing graffiti, it is also going to have a flow-on effect and reduce other crimes, particularly minor crimes.
“We think those doing the graffiti are residual offenders and committing other crimes including theft from cars, which is another huge problem.
“By getting shop owners on board to look out and report graffiti as well, it builds momentum for them to report other crimes.
“We don’t want the attitude that police can’t do anything as it’s a minor offence, we want to know what’s going on.”
Sen Sgt Marshall even put a call out to graffitists to get in touch with him to discuss the issue.
“I challenge any graffitists to email me if they think they can justify their actions,” he said.
“I’m open to debate. If they think it adds to the aesthetics, I’m happy to discuss the lawfulness and what graffiti does to an area.”
Rivergum Ward councillor Damien Rosario said the council was happy to be working with police to tackle crime in the area.
“Council and police will concentrate on graffiti, assaults and theft from shops and motor vehicles in the Hampton Park area,” he said.
“Community support for these initiatives is overwhelming and together we can make a positive difference.”
Sen Sgt Marshall can be contacted on paul.marshall@police.vic.gov.au, including those reporting crime and those doing the graffiti.
