Tagging filmed but noone cares, complainant says
A KEW man who caught an act of alleged power pole vandalism on camera says the authorities were not interested in viewing his video of the incident.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, citing fears the graffiti artist might seek retribution if they knew he had gone public, captured the video from his CCTV surveillance system late last Tuesday night.
In the video, a ute parks in Easther Cres, near the Middleton Rd corner, about 11.40pm on Tuesday, before a person gets out of the vehicle and walks across the road to the power pole.
He lingers for a moment, then hustles back to the vehicle.
The following Wednesday evening, the man returned home to find a large black tag on the side of the power pole where the person was captured lingering in the video.
Its resolution is not sufficient to capture the person holding or using spray paint, but he can be seen leaning over, and the tag extends to the ground.
At least one other passenger was in the twincab ute, as its rear door opened briefly while the person was allegedly tagging the pole.
The man said he contacted Dunedin police on Thursday morning but was told he needed to contact the Dunedin City Council (DCC) instead.
The man claimed he offered his video to police but ‘‘once they heard it was a power pole they weren’t interested’’.
When he contacted the DCC, the man said he was given the number for lines company Aurora Energy, but he said the staff member he spoke to ‘‘didn’t really seem to think it was of interest’’ and he felt fobbed off.
He claimed he also offered the video of the alleged tagging to the DCC and Aurora, as well as police, but neither were interested.
A DCC spokeswoman confirmed the man had called and been given the number for Aurora, as it was not the DCC’s responsibility.
‘‘Our staff advised this was not an issue we could deal with and that he should contact Aurora; staff gave him the number.
‘‘The DCC does not remove graffiti from power poles’’.
Later that week, the man decided to paint over the graffiti with white spray paint himself ‘‘just because it looked ugly’’.
He did not want to give the tagger ‘‘the satisfaction’’ of seeing it remain, he said.
An Aurora spokeswoman said they had received his call on Thursday and planned to check on the pole this week, before arranging for it to be repainted, despite the man’s DIY efforts to paint over the tag.
‘‘We’ll check the pole . . . this week and then arrange for our graffiti contractors to repaint the pole.
‘‘For safety, noone should work on electrical equipment themselves. Please let us know and we will arrange authorised contractors to paint over unwanted graffiti.’’
Dunedin police (03) 4714800, Crimestoppers 0800555111.