The City of Prince George's new program to combat graffiti is a good start that could help reduce crime but it's unclear how much an effect it will have.
Graffiti Free PG came out one of the recommendations of the Mayor's Task Force on Crime but the program doesn't address the key question of whether all forms of graffiti are bad.
Mayor Shari Green said studies have shown how graffiti left for as little as one week all but guarantees more graffiti will follow in the same area. RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass added that tourists and residents believe an area with graffiti is more dangerous than it really is.
Both of those statements are based on the Broken Windows theory of crime. Broken Windows emerged among criminologists in the early 1980s and was spectacularly effective in transforming Times Square, the subway system and other crime-infested areas of New York City.The premise is a social behaviour version of the old money adage that "if you worry about the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." With Broken Windows, police officers take aim at petty crimes, like graffiti, and the frequency of more serious crimes, like assaults and robberies, will be reduced. Meanwhile, communities and residents are engaged to move quickly to fix the physical effects of crime. Broken windows (hence the name) and other forms of vandalism are repaired, graffiti is painted over and anything that suggests a crime occurred is removed.
From a law enforcement standpoint, stopping suspects to question them about a potential petty crime they may have committed often leads to arrests for more serious crimes, as well as useful information about other criminal activity. From the community's perspective, it's a clear statement of ownership that this space that was the site of a crime doesn't belong to criminals, it belongs to law-abiding citizens who don't tolerate crime. From the criminal's standpoint, it's a sign that this is an area that both police officers and residents are watching.
Broken Windows makes plenty of sense and it has delivered real change in many areas of law enforcement and crime reduction but it is not perfect.
For starters, Broken Windows works great at attacking the symptoms of social problems but does little to address to address poverty, addiction, gangs, prostitution, education, public safety, food security, mental health and the other known contributing elements of crime.
Furthermore, Broken Windows is a lens through which to view crime but not to see the individuals who commit crime. Addressing the short-term crime can blind police forces and communities. In other words, sometimes a helping hand is a better solution for a criminal than hand cuffs.
Lastly, Broken Windows lumps graffiti in with vandalism, because it alters the normal state of a place and suggests anti-social behaviour. Yet graffiti has gone mainstream in some circles. One of the best-known artists in the world, Banksy, is a British graffiti artist and award-winning filmmaker (he was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary for Exit Through The Gift Shop) whose work sells for millions. Residents and tourists were either excited or furious when Banksy proclaimed himself New York City's artist-in-residence last fall and unveiled a new work each day in October (type "New York Banksy 2013" into Google Images to see his work and the pictures people took of themselves with the works).
Closer to home, there are some B.C. municipalities that allow graffiti in their community skate parks as a form of unsupervised creative expression for young people. So long as the images and language are tasteful, graffiti is allowed to be public art and the artists are encouraged to police the area themselves and discourage idiots wanting to spraypaint giant swastikas and hate speech.
Prince George, however, is not one of those municipalities because, under Broken Windows, graffiti at the skatepark would encourage other criminal activity. Perhaps the mayor and city council should chat up their colleagues at this fall's Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting about best practices when it comes to graffiti.
They might learn that graffiti isn't always seen as just a black-and-white problem.
