How Edmonton businesses are affected by graffiti vandalism
Posted July 7, 2022 6:14 pm.
A restaurant in north Edmonton became the victim of graffiti tagging on Canada Day. A picture the co-owner shared to Facebook shows a large red tag that was sprayed on the side of the building.
“Just disappointing,” said David Egan, co-owner of Transit Smokehouse & BBQ. “It’s time and frustration, and sometimes you have to question motives… putting a tag isn’t street art, right? I think it just serves to make the community uglier.”
So what’s the big deal? A constable says graffiti can affect business at the properties they deface and lead to other crimes.
“And it becomes a spot where more graffiti gets on top of each other or around it, and it invites more trouble into the area, outside of just graffiti,” said Const. Olivier Gallant with EPS Whyte Avenue BEATs team. “[It makes] that area or the neighbourhood or community less desirable if left unchecked.”
It’s also a costly crime to clean up – police say in a press release that in 2021 alone, the city received 356 requests for graffiti cleanup assistance and spent more than $81,000 to help remove graffiti from private property. Property owners can apply for up to $750 worth of professional cleaning from the city.
The solution to unwanted tagging? Fight vandalism with art! Apart from reporting graffiti, the constable says murals can deter taggers.
“That’s the one thing – they may not respect your property, but they’ll respect art,” said Const. Gallant.
The northside restaurant co-owner says the tagging incident has motivated him to install exterior security cameras post-clean-up.
“It’s unfortunate that some people resort to that,” remarked Egan, “Especially, you know, it’s been quite an endeavour for us to restore this historic building.”
So the next time you see graffiti where it doesn’t belong, police say to take a photo of it, report it to 311 and police, and remove it as soon as possible.
