Business groups seek return of graffiti officer
Police hear that tags make districts look dirty and promote ‘unsafe’ feeling
As executive director of the Broadway Business Improvement District (BID), DeeAnn Mercier got “sick” of seeing graffiti on her way to work.
The Broadway BID commissioned several murals and other public art this year as a way to combat the rising tide of graffiti, because murals have been effective in discouraging vandals, Mercier says.
However, the murals were tagged before a coating could be applied that would make spray paint less visible, Mercier told the Saskatoon board of police commissioners on Thursday.
“We certainly can’t keep up with the increased amount of graffiti and are seeking help and resources,” she said.
She told the police board she wants the police force to resume having an officer dedicated to dealing with graffiti. City police transferred the dedicated graffiti officer to other duties in July 2015.
Incidents of graffiti vandalism skyrocketed in 2016 to 660 cases compared to 362 the year before — an 82 per cent spike that outstripped all other property crime increases in Saskatoon.
“We had to make a tough decision at the time,” acting police Chief Mark Chatterbok said of shifting the graffiti officer elsewhere. He told reporters after Thursday’s meeting that he’s receptive to the idea of restoring the position.
Randy Pshebylo, executive director of the Riversdale BID, called the removal of the dedicated graffiti officer a “failed experiment.”
Pshebylo said he estimates only 60 per cent of tags are reported to police, since business owners are often too busy and the chances of catching the culprit so slim with scant police resources.
“The apathy has set in,” Pshebylo said.
He showed a series of slides displaying the amount of graffiti in Riversdale. One slide showed profanity painted on one of the horns on the two-headed muskox sculpture on 20th Street near Avenue C.
“Look around. Our city is visually becoming dirty,” Pshebylo said.
Mercier said the graffiti goes beyond concerns about appearance. In addition to making the Broadway district look dirty, it can promote an “unsafe” feeling, she told the committee.
Mercier elaborated to reporters after the meeting, saying the graffiti is mostly done at night, which means people are sneaking around in the shadows.
She noted some vandals are climbing onto the roofs of the older buildings in the Broadway strip, which poses safety concerns.
One of the city’s most noteworthy murals, on the side of the Broadway Roastery building, has become unrecognizable due to graffiti, Mercier said.
Coun. Darren Hill told the police board a wider approach to graffiti is necessary.
“This isn’t just (a Saskatoon Police Service) issue, this is a citywide issue,” Hill said.