Graffiti in London is being targeted for a special week-long crackdown from Monday 9 October, as part of a campaign to tackle environmental crime in the capital.
The problem of litter, graffiti and fly-tipping are regularly high on the list of concerns of Londoners and so Capital Standards*, 28 London boroughs and the Mayor of London have responded to these concerns with a campaign to tackle environmental crime. The year-round work culminates in a week of activity specifically targeting graffiti.
The activities that are taking place this week across the Capital Standards boroughs aim to highlight that graffiti is a criminal offence, it is costly to remove and it has a real impact on the perception of an area. In Hounslow, borough enforcement officers are working with the Metropolitan police to catch offenders, in Lewisham a new anti graffiti paint will be applied to shops and businesses and in Merton the borough is launching a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police.
Mark Pinnock, Chair of Graffiti Working Group for Capital Standards, said: 'This awareness week affords us the opportunity to demonstrate the fine work that the London Local Authorities as members of the Capital Standards Network are carrying out each week to combat the scourge of graffiti. Graffiti is a crime and costs the Local Authorities thousands of pounds each year. It is not just young people that commit the crime but we must try to engage with all who are responsible. Education and good enforcement is the key.'
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: 'Our polling consistently shows that living in a clean city is a priority for Londoners and I want to congratulate the work that the Capital Standards boroughs are doing to clean up our streets. The aim of this week of action to tackle graffiti shows that environmental crime will not be tolerated within the Capital Standards boroughs.
Capital Standards has trained borough enforcement officers to target anti – social behaviour and has campaigned to cut litter, flytipping and graffiti in London.