Blitz on York graffiti artists

12:00pm Monday 7th May 2012 in News Photograph of the Author Exclusive By Jennifer Bell, jennifer.bell@thepress.co.uk

Authorities hope this graffiti can be linked to the vandal who did it Authorities hope this graffiti can be linked to the vandal who did it

TODAY we reveal the handiwork of the ten most prolific graffiti taggers who are blighting York with their spray cans.

The Press, City of York Council, the Safer York Partnership and North Yorkshire Police are asking for local residents to “turn in a tagger” and shop those responsible for defacing homes, shops, public buildings and bus stops, after new figures revealed the problem grew by 47 per cent last year.

Figures obtained by The Press show that in the past four months, 428 incidents of graffiti were reported to the TAAGY (Taking Action Against Graffiti York) team – up from 250 during the same period last year.

In total, there were 755 reported incidents of graffiti in 2011/12 – up from 514 the year before.

The Micklegate and Holgate areas have been worst-hit in the past six months, with old industrial units, cycle paths and bridges particularly badly affected.

Graffiti hotspots include Cinder Lane, the Nunnery Lane estate, the old Terry Avenue industrial site and the Riverside Walk beside Rowntree Park.

TAAGY, which was set up four years ago and works through a website holding a secure online database, says there are about 20 common tags which have been recorded more than ten times in the past year.

The group has given The Press images of the distinctive tags, or signature sprays, of the ten vandals police are most keen to catch.

One uses the word REKO which has been sprayed in blue across brick walls.

Another uses white paint to daub TMK over buildings in the city, and TOL also appears in heavy black spray paint across private property.

Other tags include TM, MIMIK, NS, LAYER, CHEO, CM and AMRO, and shops, homes and tourist attractions have all been targeted.

Coun Sandy Fraser, the city council’s cabinet member for crime and community safety, said: “Graffiti is mindless vandalism which causes serious and costly damage to buildings.”

He said York’s history and tourism industry meant it was very important to tackle the problem.

“The money spent on cleaning graffiti would be better used towards providing youth activities or schemes for young people in York.”

To report graffiti, you can use a free new “app” from the TAAGY team, available at smarteryork.org.uk or on all “app” stores.

It enables smart-phone users to take a picture of graffiti, and send the location and the photo to the council. Alternatively, send your picture to The Press by messaging 80360 and starting your message with the word YORK.

The TAAGY team received a Butlers Trust award at Buckingham Palace earlier this year for its work.

The group is run as a joint venture between the police, the city council, the Safer York Partnership and the probation service, and has been operating for four years.

The team uploads snapshots of graffiti to an innovative web-based system, which each day distributes details such as the location and the tag, directly to the community payback team, helping to identify trouble spots, prosecute offenders and aid in the quick clean-up.

The community payback team is able to immediately send a working party of offenders to tackle the graffiti.

On average, offenders provide more than 150 hours of free labour every month and the TAAGY team estimates it has saved £30,000 for York taxpayers.

Comments(33)

NickPheas says...
12:15pm Mon 7 May 12

Just to be contrary: Does it really matter if some taggers brighten up cycle paths and disused industrial units?
Obviously we'd not want this on homes or the front of stops, but it's crazy to say that all graffiti is mindless vandalism. You just look at the Banksy tours bringing tourists into Bristol and London to see that sometimes we can all benefit.

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mfjim says...
12:21pm Mon 7 May 12

Of course vandalism has gone up in the city when the council have removed the only legal place for young people to paint. Its not brain surgery. Obviously some people only want to vandalise things but most would rather use their paint to produce something more attractive but are being forced onto the street by the councils draconian attitude. How is it Filey and Scarborough are able to see the sense in giving people somewhere to do this??? Neither of those towns are covered in graffiti but graffiti artists live and visit them often. The council and Police have demonstrated how unable they are to "get rid" of graffiti in york even with their zero tolerance policy and " increased patrols" they have secured 1 conviction in the last 5 years...Does this mean the queen will not be congratulating the TAAGY team on their colossal money wasting activities?? How about trying something new people at the council? Or no..maybe you could just keep banging your heads against a brick wall...(after making sure its clean of course..)

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yorkandproud says...
12:23pm Mon 7 May 12

NickPheas wrote:
Just to be contrary: Does it really matter if some taggers brighten up cycle paths and disused industrial units? Obviously we'd not want this on homes or the front of stops, but it's crazy to say that all graffiti is mindless vandalism. You just look at the Banksy tours bringing tourists into Bristol and London to see that sometimes we can all benefit.
Hey Nick, they are not brightening up anywhere. They are guilty of defacing medieval buildings, as well as structures such as Scarborough Bridge, that has recently had thousands and thousands of pounds spent on it. So your pathetic attempt at defending these criminals is way wide of the mark. This mindless vandalism is hardly Banksy, is it.

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NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
12:30pm Mon 7 May 12

"In total, there were 755 reported incidents of graffiti in 2011/12 – up from 514 the year before."

This was bound to happen as it was October 2010 that Sue Galloway was last seen painting over what was York's only accepted graffiti wall.

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NickPheas says...
12:33pm Mon 7 May 12

I've got no time for anyone defacing ancient buildings, homes, places people actually work, and I don't think I suggested I had. Throw the book at anyone who can be identified doing that kind of damage, fine.
But at the same time, if people want to write their names on and otherwise dull bridge on the cycle path, or on those ugly blue bits of pipework then leave them to it. There are so many worse things they could be doing.

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brummiebob says...
3:19pm Mon 7 May 12

No one person has the right to decide what we all have to look at, tags are not art, do not improve anything, are not decorative, do not add to the environment. Banksy adds to the environment and is artistic in a post industrial landscape, York is not the right place for any type of graffiti.

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Buzz Light-year says...
3:55pm Mon 7 May 12

I disagree with Coun Fraser and with yorkandproud. Graffiti isn't mindless vandalism. It's vandalism but it's not mindless.
Mindless vandalism is drunks knocking bins over on the way home, it's people kicking off wing mirrors, it's kids setting fire to sheds on allotments. There's a difference.

Regarding the formerly legit for painting bridge near the college, it's important to note that the official reason given by Sue Galloway and co for painting it over and changing the policy was that graffiti wasn't being contained in the legit area and was escaping to other areas at the sides of bridge.
Well if you take a walk down there you'll see what cobblers that all was. They've cleaned up and painted under the bridge where the artwork was *but they've left the scrappy unsightly stuff at the sides* The stuff that was the reason to stop it hasn't been touched.
Great policy that. Ditch the art, keep the mess. What message does that give out?

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spiritofyork says...
4:28pm Mon 7 May 12

Couldn't give a monkey's. Make the same streets look different...somethin
g new to see on my way to work. Maybe the council and the police should spend money on something more worthwhile.

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JasBro says...
4:48pm Mon 7 May 12

If only Sandy Fraser would listen to his own words
“The money spent on cleaning graffiti would be better used towards providing youth activities or schemes for young people in York.”

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bloodaxe says...
4:54pm Mon 7 May 12

NickPheas wrote:
Just to be contrary: Does it really matter if some taggers brighten up cycle paths and disused industrial units?
Obviously we'd not want this on homes or the front of stops, but it's crazy to say that all graffiti is mindless vandalism. You just look at the Banksy tours bringing tourists into Bristol and London to see that sometimes we can all benefit.
Come on, this isn't Banksy or even Lower East Side stuff. You might call this junk "brightening up" but those cycle paths may near to where people live. Great advert for an area, to have it covered with daub.

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NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
5:00pm Mon 7 May 12

brummiebob wrote:
No one person has the right to decide what we all have to look at, tags are not art, do not improve anything, are not decorative, do not add to the environment. Banksy adds to the environment and is artistic in a post industrial landscape, York is not the right place for any type of graffiti.
So by that reasoning, Banksy has a right to decide what you look at?

You just contradicted yourself in your own post.

Whats the difference between Banksy and your run of the mill graffiti artist, they both paint illegally?

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Silver says...
5:28pm Mon 7 May 12

NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:
brummiebob wrote:
No one person has the right to decide what we all have to look at, tags are not art, do not improve anything, are not decorative, do not add to the environment. Banksy adds to the environment and is artistic in a post industrial landscape, York is not the right place for any type of graffiti.
So by that reasoning, Banksy has a right to decide what you look at?

You just contradicted yourself in your own post.

Whats the difference between Banksy and your run of the mill graffiti artist, they both paint illegally?
Everytime tagging is mentioned it for some reasons deviates to art. This stuff is tagging there is no artistic merit in writing layer. If we have examples of art then we should debate whether to keep it but when it's a stupid childish tag we should remove it. I've known OAPs to be frightened out of their wits by people tagging their garden doors because they think it means they're being targeted for a burglary, that causes a lot of distress to them because they don't realise the people doing it are just idiots.

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JasBro says...
5:58pm Mon 7 May 12

The REKO one is very well done if you look carefully.

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MrsDingledongle says...
6:16pm Mon 7 May 12

Is that really an E? Looks like an I with a C above it to me, Ricko

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brummiebob says...
7:16pm Mon 7 May 12

NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:
brummiebob wrote:
No one person has the right to decide what we all have to look at, tags are not art, do not improve anything, are not decorative, do not add to the environment. Banksy adds to the environment and is artistic in a post industrial landscape, York is not the right place for any type of graffiti.
So by that reasoning, Banksy has a right to decide what you look at?

You just contradicted yourself in your own post.

Whats the difference between Banksy and your run of the mill graffiti artist, they both paint illegally?
I don't agree with any graffiti, it is all an offence. I was trying to distinguish between tags and graffiti.

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brummiebob says...
7:20pm Mon 7 May 12

spiritofyork wrote:
Couldn't give a monkey's. Make the same streets look different...somethin

g new to see on my way to work. Maybe the council and the police should spend money on something more worthwhile.
Post your address then and you could have something to look at when you get home? Or would it be "not in my back yard"? Graffiti is a scourge.

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BertieBrompton says...
8:35pm Mon 7 May 12

Why not follow what many European City's do and have a specific tagging wall. It creates a positive culture, competition, keeps it all in one area and it become a central area oh and it would be cheaper to build a wall from the old splash palace bricks than keep cleaning it all off!!

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Whistlejacket says...
8:49pm Mon 7 May 12

"Buzz Light-year says...
3:55pm Mon 7 May 12
I disagree with Coun Fraser and with yorkandproud. Graffiti isn't mindless vandalism. It's vandalism but it's not mindless.
Mindless vandalism is drunks knocking bins over on the way home, it's people kicking off wing mirrors, it's kids setting fire to sheds on allotments. There's a difference."

No, there's no difference.
If someone kicks off my wing mirror, I have to pay to fix it.
If someone tags my wall, I have to pay to fix it.
Both are moronic acts performed by silly little boys revelling in being naughty.

Since we no longer have any desire to effectively punish this kind of behaviour, I guess we have to tolerate it.

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Silver says...
9:39pm Mon 7 May 12

BertieBrompton wrote:
Why not follow what many European City's do and have a specific tagging wall. It creates a positive culture, competition, keeps it all in one area and it become a central area oh and it would be cheaper to build a wall from the old splash palace bricks than keep cleaning it all off!!
Ummm actually thats a common misconception take Holland for example very liberal country but their trains are covered in graffiti....basicall
y there are places that try harder then others to remove it, but it will always be there. Besides in York we don't have have much of an artistic graffiti group here. There are a few (Like the graffiti above Yates roof) which could be taken as art but they are the exception not the norm, our graffiti is pretty much just tagging. If you think otherwise you really need to look around a bit more.

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NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
10:20pm Mon 7 May 12

Silver wrote:
NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:
brummiebob wrote:
No one person has the right to decide what we all have to look at, tags are not art, do not improve anything, are not decorative, do not add to the environment. Banksy adds to the environment and is artistic in a post industrial landscape, York is not the right place for any type of graffiti.
So by that reasoning, Banksy has a right to decide what you look at?

You just contradicted yourself in your own post.

Whats the difference between Banksy and your run of the mill graffiti artist, they both paint illegally?
Everytime tagging is mentioned it for some reasons deviates to art. This stuff is tagging there is no artistic merit in writing layer. If we have examples of art then we should debate whether to keep it but when it's a stupid childish tag we should remove it. I've known OAPs to be frightened out of their wits by people tagging their garden doors because they think it means they're being targeted for a burglary, that causes a lot of distress to them because they don't realise the people doing it are just idiots.
The headline calls them "Artists", the only time I mentioned it was when I said "graffiti artist" which is a well used term. I don't under any circumstances consider Banksy to be an artist, to me he is no different to the people tagging their names. As I said earlier, they both work outside of the law.

Whats needed here is a complete rethink by the council regarding the painting of the bridge under the A64 near Bishopthorpe.

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jumbojet says...
11:36pm Mon 7 May 12

What is matter with the 'graffiti artist' using the bridge under the A64? A miserable place indeed without some artwork. I was talking with a person who was spraying, all planned out, and he made a dismal wall look bright again. His flight bag had cans, all colours, and I would say up to £50 total worth, all large cans. Don't spray stupid tags in the City, pathetic, but in the right place, why not.

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Macmillan1221 says...
12:16am Tue 8 May 12

The council brought this on themselves. There was only 1 legal place in york for artists to go and paint. When that wall near collage was legal, there were hardly any paintings been done in the city. As an Ex Graffiti artist i know what its like. For those of you that are sick of seeing it, complain to the council to legalise Bishopthorpe Bumps again. And when they do take a stroll down. I think you'll soon change your views on graffiti then. If you dont know what your talking about dont comment. If you try do graffiti, you'll see its an art. Not many can acomplish.

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Magicman! says...
12:26am Tue 8 May 12

NickPheas wrote:
Just to be contrary: Does it really matter if some taggers brighten up cycle paths and disused industrial units?
Obviously we'd not want this on homes or the front of stops, but it's crazy to say that all graffiti is mindless vandalism. You just look at the Banksy tours bringing tourists into Bristol and London to see that sometimes we can all benefit.
I think you might be getting confused. Graffitti Art is a process where somebody with some sort of talent has invested money in a few tims of paint and goes to paint the underside of a bridge in an array of colours and three dimensional shapes, the result being a brighter cycleway. Tags on the other hand are the result of braindead chavlings who can only afford one colour of paint and decide to go round areas that can be highly visible so as to spread their made-up name so that other braindead chavs know it's their turf braap braap.

The police could go around the Bur Dyke Avenue and Chapelfields areas with a few warrants and would easily find some of the offenders just like that.

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pedalling paul says...
8:34am Tue 8 May 12

Try cycling with a family of children past the "Bishopthorpe Bumps" under the A64 when these so called artists are in action, and being forced to inhale noxious paint fumes.........the sooner it's stopped the better.

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NoNewsIsGoodNews says...
9:03am Tue 8 May 12

pedalling paul wrote:
Try cycling with a family of children past the "Bishopthorpe Bumps" under the A64 when these so called artists are in action, and being forced to inhale noxious paint fumes.........the sooner it's stopped the better.
It would still be a lot safer than following your open top tour bus chugging around the narrow streets of York.

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AnotherPointofView says...
9:21am Tue 8 May 12

NoNewsIsGoodNews wrote:
pedalling paul wrote: Try cycling with a family of children past the "Bishopthorpe Bumps" under the A64 when these so called artists are in action, and being forced to inhale noxious paint fumes.........the sooner it's stopped the better.
It would still be a lot safer than following your open top tour bus chugging around the narrow streets of York.
Brilliant. Just love it!

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roskoboskovic says...
10:11am Tue 8 May 12

unless a copper trips over a tagger on his way to/from work he certainly wont spot on whilst on patrol.a police presence may help but give them a place to paint legally and it just might help.are the councillors really so old fashioned and stuck in their ways or is it that if there isn t a cycling connection then they don t want to know.

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stephen123 says...
10:54am Tue 8 May 12

Looks like one or two of the people who have posted notes above have witnessed the taggers in action. So if you are not happy with the graffiti and fumes you now know what to do.

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Candy Cupcake says...
12:02pm Tue 8 May 12

Ok there is a problem with graffiti, well maybe the council should acknowledge that these kids need a place they can call their own to demonstrate their art.... I would much rather see these kids doing something constructive in a a contained environment... its a no brainer! There are loads of places that could be used, but heaven forbid we moved York into the 21st Century...

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harogut-the-cat says...
1:17pm Tue 8 May 12

Picture 3 I would say is art!!the rest criminal damage .

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El Clinton says...
8:04pm Tue 8 May 12

I don't mind decent artistic graffiti, theres some stuff on cinder lane at the moment which is at least an attempt at something. but these tags are just terrible and ruin the look of the city.

whats the point in reporting it though if nothing is ever done?
i've reported that squiggle on dalton terrace three times now but its still there!

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PinzaC55 says...
12:32pm Wed 9 May 12

An earlier poster seemed to suggest that the poor little baa lambs were doing this "because the only legal place had been removed"?
I guess following that logic we should have streets where it is legal to bugle houses or steal cars?

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Public Enemy Number One says...
3:03pm Wed 9 May 12

The bottom line is these 'tags' are rubbish. Any respectable Graffiti artist would cringe at these 'Tags'. At the side of Clifton Bingo Hall is some real Graffiti painted by Part 2 - he is one of the best in the country and is now in London (Originally from Haxby) . . .

All tagging is rubbish - however full pieces of Graffiti can be beautiful. In areas like Lindsey Ave, Walmgate or The Groves I would much rather see full pieces of colourful graffiti instead of bleak 1960's walls.

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