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By Hunter Wells
Only two out of 20 complaints about graffiti or tagging referred by Tauranga City Council to Police in April of this year resulted with convictions and sentences.
The two offenders received fines totaling $150 each and were both charged with willful damage.
According to the Summary Offences (section 11) Act, “wilful damages” may result in a maximum punishment of 3 months imprisonment or an up-to $2000 fine.
The Weekend Sun received a table of police information about graffiti and tagging last week under the Official Information Act.
On the charge of possession of graffiti tools, two more accused were found guilty and released. The conviction itself was considered to be sufficient punishment.
The accused in two other cases was discharged, meaning that they do not have any criminal convictions.
Tauranga City Council sent 22 complaints to Police about graffiti and tags. Of those, 10 were not prosecuted.
The Weekend Sun filed the OIA after an opinion piece published on page 2 about increasing graffiti and tagging in Tauranga. It said, “Look all around the city.” If you notice one tag you will start to see them all over. It’s a problem that is getting worse for us all, because we can see it. “We see the disfigurement, defacing, and mutilation of our city.”
A Weekend Sun reader was prompted to demand “police actions…against the offenders”, and suggest that “graffiti vandals be transformed into graffiti removal practitioners”.
Brendan Bisley who managed the Tauranga City Council’s contract to remove graffiti at the time the article was written, acknowledged that the problem has “gotten worse”. When The Sun asked TCC if it was satisfied with the current level of enforcement and referred to the police statistics, the council declined to respond.
TCC had earlier said that the graffiti problem required a “strong community response” and that it has an annual budget of $200,000 to remove or paint off the graffiti.
The best thing people can do to stop tagging would be to remove it as quickly as possible. People should contact the police if there is vandalism or graffiti with bad language.
The Weekend Sun received a table of information from the police that stated four criminals were sent to Youth Aid for help in “going in the right directions”.
Two wilful damages charges have been dismissed after completion of the diversion scheme. This allows first-time criminals to accept responsibility and avoid criminal prosecution.
One paid $380 as reparations and the other did some community service.
Seven of the 22 inquiries into complaints had “no other lines of investigation”. In one case, “an investigation is still pending”.
In each of the 22 files, Tauranga City Council is listed as “the victim”. This may be because TCC discovered it on CCTV, or contractors, neighbours, or passersby reported that they saw graffiti or tagging at or near council property. Tauranga City Council appears as the “victim” in each of these 22 cases.
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