Fine art and fined artists...
The estimated cost of graffiti to the country is over £1 billion a year, and costs each council in England £75,000 every year to remove. The London Underground alone believes its costs up to £10m a year to replace all the glass that is etched with graffiti, in addition to the £2.5m annually needed to clear up other types of graffiti.
The problem of graffiti occurs in many different areas, on walls, street furniture, telephone boxes, bus shelters, monuments and railway land. Graffiti tends not to be widespread but focused in hotspots, where the problem is intense. When it does occur it is highly visible and has a huge impact on the public in their perception of the area. This is highlighted in a recent survey in which 77 per cent of Londoners listed graffiti as a quality of life concern.
Due to its nature, graffiti is often located in places where it will gain maximum exposure, thus it can have an enormous impact on the fear of crime in an area. Streets tattooed with tags and scrawl makes people feel unsafe when they walk down them, and for residents who live with this burden it is quite unsettling. For those whose property is defaced by graffiti the markings are a form of vandalism that is unwelcome, distressing and difficult to remove.
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Research into the perception of crime has actually showed that the public are more concerned about graffiti and vandalism in their area than they are about drug dealing.
Graffiti, along with other environmental crimes, is a sign of an uncaring and indifferent society, the visual impact of which can rapidly diminish the desirability of an area, and lead to a lack of respect for the place in which people live, work and play. Top graffiti hotspots such as subways and train stations can also give a terrible first impression of any town.
Local authorities are responsible for removing graffiti from their land and this can act as a drain on local authority resources. As well as being expense toremove, jet washes and chemicals which are used to scrub off graffiti, can damage buildings.
Graffiti found on items such as telephone boxes, bus shelters and electricity boxes is the responsibility of the company that has placed them there. Although private buildings are not the local authority’s responsibility they will often assist with removal.
Those caught causing graffiti can be prosecuted under the Criminal Damage Act 1971, although prosecutions for graffiti are infrequent. Under the Antisocial Behaviour Act local authorities can issue fixed penalty notices to anyone caught in the act of producing graffiti. The New Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act has increased this to £75.
Keep Britain Tidy believes that for everyone to enjoy clean and safe environments, graffiti cannot be a part of it. Ridding the community of this illegal blight needs a variety of approaches including education and diversionary tactics like granting access to computers for people to practice graphic design instead.
