People who graffiti buildings around Melbourne may be forced to pay for the cost of the damage they cause to city property and be part of teams to clean it up, under a new plan to be rolled out if Nick Reece is re-elected as Lord Mayor.
Graffiti is not a victimless crime – it costs time and money to clean it off our buildings, and this money could be better spent on other Council priorities. Every year, the Council spends around $1 million on repairing criminal damage caused by tagging and graffiti.
That’s why Nick Reece if re-elected will implement a new city-wide policy so when a person is found guilty of damaging City of Melbourne property by tagging or graffiti, the City would seek to make a Victim Impact Statement to the sentencing court.
The Victim Impact Statement would detail the impact of the property damage and the cost of repair so that it can be considered as a part of the sentencing process. The City would also seek restitution through the sentencing act so that the person prosecuted could be forced to pay for the damage they caused.
In another step to keep offenders accountable, the City will urge police who prosecute these acts to seek community correction orders for serious offenders, which could include having the offenders join Office of Corrections target work teams that clean up graffiti across the city.
For first-time and lower-level offenders, particularly youth, the City will seek, as a victim, mandating participation in graffiti clean-up efforts as a condition of any Diversion programs. This not only provides a tangible way for them to contribute to mending the damage they've caused but also offers a chance to learn the value of taking responsibility.
For adult offenders, for any Diversion program offered by the police the City will seek that the offender to cover the full cost of the damage they inflicted, ensuring that they are financially accountable for their actions.
Where private property within the City of Melbourne has been damaged by tagging or graffiti, the City of Melbourne will actively support property owners make victim impact statements and make a claim for compensation
Under the plan, a City of Melbourne employee will personally attend Court and seek to read their Victim Impact Statement, so the court is clear about the cost impact of this sort of behaviour on ratepayers of Melbourne.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Nick Reece:
"For too long tagging has been thought of as a victimless crime - that is not the case and I want the City of Melbourne to do what it can to recoup the costs of this type of vandalism from the perpetrators, and if possible make them clean it up themselves.”
"We have had examples where a single offender has caused tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to property across our city, yet they are not held responsible for the cost of cleaning it up. It’s time for that to change.”
“As Lord Mayor, I am personally prepared to attend a court hearing of people caught tagging our buildings and make it crystal clear the impact that such behaviour is having on our city.”
Quotes attributable to Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor Candidate Roshena Campbell:
“We want to see taggers who graffiti our city held accountable for what they do.”
“By making a Victim Impact Statement, the City of Melbourne is making it clear that tagging around our city is not acceptable, and if you do it, you could be the one who pays to clean it up.”
