Surveillance cameras could help beat the graffiti epidemic Today's graffiti epidemic is caused by society's refusal to protect itself
Currently, Montreal is in the grip of a wave of extensive graffiti vandalism that makes our city look sadly uncared for, which is depressing for those of us who live here and which sends a negative message to tourist and business visitors alike. It seems that virtually every bus and Métro car window has been scratched or burned with acid to display the moronic signatures of vandals who know that they will almost certainly get away with it. Bus drivers are hardly likely to react because, with no screen to separate them from their passengers, they are exposed to potential violence and Métro train drivers simply have no way of knowing what is going on inside their trains.
Store windows are also under attack and it now seems that there is hardly a commercial window in the city that is immune trom scratch or burn defacement.
Graffiti has been with us for a very long time and can be found virtually everywhere in the world from the ruins of Pompeii to the humblest tree with carved initials and intertwined hearts proclaiming messages of endearment. It ran rampant in World War II with GI's constantly reminding us that 'Kilroy was here', it has an ubiquitous presence in most every toilet stall on the planet and most of us do not object to the occasional moustache added to political posters. Mostly though, graffiti is a damned nuisance and, when it becomes too widespread, tends to lessen the sense of security that people like to feel in public places.
The amount of graffiti in any city tends to ebb and flow over time but traditionally it has been kept in natural check by three factors; common taboos, the threat of punishment and the watchful surveying eyes that let the vandals know that they can be apprehended.
Taboos have always been a powerful force in restraining graffiti and consequently, with the exception of occasional hate statements, it is very rare to see it on places of worship. Even though the usually young vandals who commit graffiti crimes are probably not especially god-fearing, two-thousand or more years of cultural indoctrination and social programming make it very difficult for them to overcome the taboo and to deface places of worship.
The threat of punishment is extremely effective in curtailing vandalism and so graffiti is almost never seen on the fronts of private houses or on private cars. This is partly because there is an element of taboo against defacing homes but mostly because there is the very real threat of the property owner catching the vandals and beating them to a pulp. People take their property very seriously and private homes are usually occupied meaning that there may well be somebody on watch. Consequently, the vandals target public places and unoccupied commercial premises where there is little chance of being caught. Usually, there is no one watching and unless the police happen to appear it is unlikely that casual passersby will intervene to protect the property of others.
Which brings us to surveillance and how our society has failed to take the necessary steps to protect itself - preferring to maintain a rather sterile civil rights debate in order to avoid the trouble of having to make decisions, to implement them and to have to actually 'do' something. Surveillance works very simply and it works on two levels. One approach is to verify who is buying spray paint and to not sell it to minors and this has been part of a successful clean-up campaign in New York State (for film footage, see the 'graffiti' section of my 'searlesworld.com' website) However, while there is a significant spray paint graffiti presence in Montreal, and a sales control program might be appropriate, the most serious problem is the scratching and acid-burning of windows and it is difficult-to-impossible to prevent the purchase of the tools necessary for these crimes. To stop the glass vandalizing epidemic, widespread surveillance is needed.
During a recent visit to London, England, I noted that there was hardly any graffiti of any kind either on the streets or on the public transit system buses and trains. No scratched windows, very little 'marker' graffiti on transit vehicles and hardly any spray paint or other graffiti on the streets or commercial frontages. On my website, (in the 'environment' category) you can see film footage of a large and fully accessible photo of near-naked swimmers used to advertise a health club behind the wall. Nothing stops you from approaching it but there is no graffiti of any kind. You will also see that there are two very prominently visible security surveillance cameras trained on the wall and may agree that it is most likely these that have successfully discouraged the graffiti vandalism that we would have expected to see here.
In addition, the near graffiti-free state of the London public transit is easy to understand. Every bus and every 'underground' train car has a visible or hidden surveillance camera with the result that vandals can be identified and, most importantly, know that they can be. And so, for the most part, they do not vandalise. In Montreal, to appease the do-nothing worry warts, surveillance camera presence on buses has been restricted to a few signs on a few buses stating that 'there may be' a camera on board... clearly meaning that there is probably not. If there are actually cameras on board any buses they are not visible and consequently, the deterrent effect is approximately zero. In the Métro train cars there is not even the suggestion of surveillance and, like the buses, virtually every window is scratched and defaced.
To compound matters, and facilitate vandal activities, Métro security and police officers choose not to patrol the trains in any organized manner. When they are very occasionally seen on board they generally behave like passengers and stand talking to each other rather than patrolling. It would only take one or two officers per Métro train to provide ongoing security and to make life very uncomfortable for potential vandals. This is usually done by having an officer or two enter a carriage and stroll through it between stations, getting off and repeating the same process, car-by-car, as the train follows its route. In this way every car gets an official visit somewhere along the line and vandals are discouraged by knowing that an officer is always likely to be close at hand. It is far less fun scratching windows when you are likely to get caught.
If, like me, you would like to see the current graffiti plague in Montreal stamped out, I urge you to get in touch with your elected representatives and demand that protective surveillance measures, including cameras and actual patrolling be rapidly initiated in all buses and Métro cars so that our commonly paid for and very expensive public property can be protected. And, once we take the necessary steps to effectively protect public property the private sector will likely take heart and follow suit.
There are valid concerns regarding the potential over-use of surveillance cameras and most of us, including myself, do not want them filming us as we walk down the street. However, virtually all of us have already accepted the principle of using cameras to protect high risk areas against foreseeable and likely crimes. We accept the notion of using cameras to protect banks, dépanneurs and most stores and by extension, what could possibly be wrong with using them use to protect other property from criminal damage. We already have cameras on Métro station platforms and it would only seem logical to very visibly extend their use into buses and Métro cars. Let's wake up and show the criminals who is really in charge.
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» left by Anonymous (176 days 2 hours ago.)
STM is currently doing something about glass vandalism on the Metro. They are using plastic films on the inside windows to protect the glass from scratching and acid etching.
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