Greater Sudbury police Service Uniformed officers responded to a call on May 5 of youths causing graffiti at a playground on Copper Street.
Four youths were apprehended and turned over to their parents for discipline because they were all under 12.
As officers left the scene, the parents were supervising their children cleaning the damage.
The Sudbury Rainbow Crime Stoppers has posted information on dealing with graffiti on their website at www.sudburycrimestoppers.com, link Crime Files, Graffiti.
If you witness suspicious behavior or graffiti crime occurring:
- Call Police immediately. Provide them with location, number and descriptions of the vandals and any vehicles (including the make, model, colour and license plate number if possible).
- Once Police have responded, have completed their reports including pictures and have given the “go ahead”, remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.
Graffiti that is not removed indicates that no one cares about the state of the community, a press release from the Sudbury Rainbow Crime Stoppers states. The key is to break the cycle by painting it out quickly.
Sometimes graffiti writers will come back to a particular site to see whether you will keep cleaning it up, the release continued. By removing it as soon as the Police are finished their work, you will defeat them. The quick removal of the graffiti is the most effective means of discouraging further vandalism. It sends the message that this kind of activity won’t be tolerated. Graffiti writers will not continue to waste their time or materials and are unlikely to return to locations that do not offer a good return on their efforts
If you have any information about graffiti or any serious crime, call Crime Stoppers at 675-8477 (TIPS) or toll free at 1-800-222-TIPS. You will never have to give your name or testify in court and Crime Stoppers doesn’t have call display or call trace.
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