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Your pictures could help stop graffiti yobs
ORTON residents are being urged to help police with the war on graffiti in their area – by snapping pictures of tags.
ORTON residents are being urged to help police with the war on graffiti in their area – by snapping pictures of tags.The images, which police want the public to capture on a digital camera or a mobile phone, can then be fed into a state-of-the-art database to create an evidential web to trap the taggers in action.
The Ortons, in Peterborough, have suffered a large increase in graffiti incidents recently, which has led police to launch a crackdown on the vandals after it was made one of the top policing priorities in the area.
And if the trial scheme is a success, it will be widened to include the whole of Peterborough.
Community safety officer for Cambridgeshire police Helen O'Driscoll said the force was urging all residents to be vigilant.
She said: "We need any information regarding these offenders, and any photographic evidence of tags would be very helpful.
"If you have a digital camera, then please do send us a picture, filling the screen with the tag without cutting off any edges, along with the location, date and any other details, and this will then be loaded on to our database.
"We have managed to catch four taggers this week, so we are taking the problem very seriously.
"These images will help us build a clear picture of graffiti in the area and help us gather evidence to secure prosecutions."
Senior street scene officer for Peterborough City Council Mark Horsley also welcomed the move.
He said: "We can't be everywhere at once, so the more people reporting the problems to us, the better.
"This will then help us establish patterns of tagging and help us get to the places where graffiti is and remove it quicker."
And Orton Longueville councillor Graham Murphy said anything that helped eradicate the menace should be encouraged.
He said: "There is no excuse for this kind of vandalism in the area as we have provided legal graffiti boards.
"This way people can report it anonymously and help with the fight against vandalism."
And in the next few weeks two specially produced leaflets – Graffiti Prevention in the Community and Graffiti Awareness for Parents – will be distributed at school parents' evenings and the library at the Orton Centre.
Mrs O'Driscoll added: "We are trying to educate parents as well, who might not realise their children are tagging.
"We are not wholly against it if they do it legally, and we have graffiti boards across the area.
"But we can't be everywhere at once, so we are asking for the public's help."
The pictures can be sent to northerncsu@cambs.pnn.police. uk
n To report graffiti to Peterborough City Council call 01733 747474 or report online at www. peterborough.gov.uk/page-5318
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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