Graffiti vandals could be forced to pay the clean-up bill under Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s plan

Vandals caught tagging in the city could be forced to pay for the damage they have caused under a plan by Lord Mayor Nick Reece, who has pledged to personally attend court to call out their behaviour.

Graffiti vandals could be forced to pay the clean-up bill if they are caught tagging in Melbourne’s CBD under a plan by Lord Mayor Nick Reece, who has pledged to personally attend court hearings to call out their behaviour.

Mr Reece will on Sunday reveal his plan to tackle the graffiti scourge, if returned to the city’s top job, having launched his election campaign on a platform of city safety and cleanliness.

He told the Sunday Herald Sun he would implement a new council policy requiring the City of Melbourne’s legal team to write up victim impact statements when a person pleads or is found guilty of damaging council property with graffiti.

The statement, to be read out in court by an employee from the team, would detail the impact of the damage and the cost of repair to be considered as a part of the sentencing process.

It is Mr Reece’s hope that the magistrate would take the statement into consideration and grant a compensation order, which would require the offender to pay the council for the damage caused.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece has pledged to personally attend court hearings to call out the behaviour of graffiti vandals. Picture: Jason Edwards

It is also hoped that by urging police prosecutors to seek community correction orders, serious offenders could be directed to clean up graffiti across the city through one of the programs run by Community Correctional Services.

However, magistrates are under no obligation to make compensation orders or community correction orders, retaining discretion to make these orders if they “think fit”.

The Sunday Herald Sun understands that the City of Melbourne’s legal department would take on the responsibility of preparing and tendering the victim impact statements, in addition to their other duties.

When private property within the City of Melbourne has been damaged by graffiti, the department would actively support property owners make their own victim impact statements.

Mr Reece wants to recoup the costs of vandalism from the perpetrators. Picture: Ian Currie

Mr Reece said “for too long tagging has been thought of as a victimless crime”.

“As lord mayor, I am personally prepared to attend a court hearing of people caught tagging our buildings and make it crystal clear the impact that such behaviour is having on our city,” he said.

“I want the City of Melbourne to do what it can to recoup the costs of this type of vandalism from the perpetrators and, if possible, make them clean it up themselves.

“We have had examples where a single offender has caused tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to property across our city, yet they are not held responsible for the cost of cleaning it up.”

Arron Wood and his running mate Erin Deering unveiled their graffiti policy weeks ago. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Mr Reece’s plan comes three weeks after fellow lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood unveiled his three-part graffiti policy.

Mr Wood has already pledged to push for stricter penalties for vandals, including community corrections orders that would require them to scrub off graffiti.

“We will collaborate with the appropriate legislative bodies to advocate for the introduction of strict penalties for offenders, similar to those in place in other jurisdictions such as Chicago, New York and Sydney, including fines, community service and the ability for the pursuit of civil damages to function as a deterrent against illegal graffiti,” Mr Wood said at the time.

He said his graffiti policy was three-fold to focus not only on the court system and the clean-up, but to stop it from occurring in the first place – pledging to expand designated sites where legitimate graffiti artists can showcase their talents legally.