Taggy system to catch graffiti vandals
A powerful database is being used by police and council officials to crack down on graffiti in Hull.
Humberside Police and Hull City Council have joined forces to launch a campaign to tackle the issue which costs the authority £100,000 every year.
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ON THE RECORD: Inspector Bill Grieve and PCSO Samantha Scott take photographs of graffiti in Broadstone Close, Bransholme, which will be inputted into the Taggy databse.
Hull Against Graffiti – a zero tolerance campaign – will be launched next month, with the hi-tech Taggy database playing a key role.
The database stores and track every graffiti image in the city, helping identify culprits.
It is already being used by Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and council staff, including community wardens and housing officers who have all been given a digital cameras to take pictures of graffiti in their patch.
The images are uploaded on to the Taggy database which enables police to collate evidence against graffiti taggers.
Inspector Bill Grieves, of the East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said:
"Graffiti is a city-wide problem and this is the first time we are able to map the graffiti across the city.
"Before this multi-agency approach, there was no coordinated effort, which made mapping and tracking the graffiti hard.
"Graffiti is crime – it is not art. People do not want it. It is unsightly and increases the fear or crime.
"The database is crucial, because it will be able to provide hard evidence of this kind of activity over a period of time, leading to more prosecutions."
The database is made up of a series of files which includes the graffiti image and its name to link it to other similar tags.
The exact details of the graffiti location, materials used may also be filed.
A simple search of the database reveals where the graffiti hotspots are, the top ten most-common tags, how many images are uploaded each day or week, how many images there are in the city, whether it has been cleaned or not and which officers are uploading what.
The files can be used as evidence in court and will also be used by police visiting schools to try and track down young offenders.
The public are also being asked to play their part in the campaign by reporting incidents of graffiti.
A new website, www.hullagainstgraffiti.co.uk, which has been seen exclusively by the Mail is about to be launched to enable residents and businesses to give information anonymously about the identities of Hull's most high-profile taggers.
Residents can also use the website to request areas where graffiti should be cleaned up, and find out how much graffiti there is in their area.
The website will also advise residents on how not to become a victim and how to protect their property.
The information from the public website will be fed into the Taggy database and used to alert council staff which areas need a clean-up.
Inspector Grieves added: "The website is brilliant, it's really user friendly and will be a great help to us.
"There hasn't been a simplified way of reporting graffiti for authorities or residents.
"More needs to be done to identify offenders and problem areas that need cleaning up and that is what this website is about.
"People can report graffiti in total confidence.
"It is in everyone's best interest to inform us about graffiti in their area to allow us to record and investigate it.
"Its the taxpayer who is paying for it to be cleaned up which is why we need to prevent it."
Councillors are expected to get a preview of the campaign at a meeting at the Guildhall this Thursday.
22 Comments
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by Eleanor, not at home today
Thursday, February 10 2011, 8:02AM
“I am intrigued to see that someone on here likes me so much that they are using my usual name 'Eleanor, at home'. I see comments were left yesterday. That certainly wasn't me as I have been away for last few days and only got back late last night. So whoever it is, although I am flattered, please have the decency to use your own name and not mine.”
by Charles, cott
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 2:34AM
“HBHC
whatever?”
by Sam, Hull
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 12:38AM
“"" A zero tolerance campaign",in Hull this means do nothing,the kids write their name in full after the graffiti where I live ,and nothings done about it.For once keep your promises Hull City Council ."
”
What do you suggest Hull City Council do? Arrest anybody whose name gets written on a wall?
You really haven't thought this through have you?
by Bod, Bev
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 9:44PM
“I like some graffiti, but tagging isn't exactly artistic or attractive. What irritates me more is that the police tie it in with urban exploration when damaging property isn't what UrbEx is all about.”
by Apolitical, Hull
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 8:59PM
“I'm with Tosh on this one - some graffiti is excellent, undoubtedly art.
However, writing your name on someone else's wall, which is basically akin to a dog urinating up a lampost to mark its territory is just embarrassing for all concerned.
If you want to mark your territory, why not sodding buy it? Because otherwise, it's not really yours, is it?”
by Hugh Anchor, Hull
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 8:15PM
“Ray T Payer said "The only time anyone acted and got rid of it was when it became racial and it was cleaned up within 24 hours..."
what a surpise.. NOT!!!
Thank you again you politically correct morons - all graffiti is unsightly mess which gives any area a very negative image. The equally dumb morons who do graffiti should be put in the stocks for 48 hours and pelted with muck, it vidoed and put on the internet so we can all see who are the culprits, then refuse them jobs, credit the lot. If you want to be unsocial fine - society will reject you too”
by Anon, Cleaning up graffiti
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 6:42PM
“" A zero tolerance campaign",in Hull this means do nothing,the kids write their name in full after the graffiti where I live ,and nothings done about it.For once keep your promises Hull City Council .”
by Sam, Hull
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 4:19PM
“The article says that the 'database' could be used as evidence in court. I very much doubt this is true.
Even if caught red handed (or whatever colour they got from Halfords) tagging without an admission of responsibility it is unlikely the quantity of similar graffiti would be admissible as there would be no proof that all of the tags were done by the same person.
If "[my real name] of [my address] is a love god hung like a full grown mountain gorilla" started appearing all over town that wouldn't prove I was the one painting it.
"The simplest solution to tagging would be for the council to add the words "is a tw*t" after every tag instead of removing it.
Once a tagger is ridiculed in front of his equally sad little mates he'll soon stop doing it."
This /\”
by oswald, hull
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 3:59PM
“I suspect it would be better value for money to remove it rather than film it ?”
by Van gough, In one ear out the....?
Tuesday, February 09 2010, 1:53PM
“Who cares who hangs themselves while in jail,as already said "If you cant do the time dont do the crime" innit !”