Graffiti in the can

By Ed Merrison
POLICE and traders are teaming up in Belgrave to fight graffiti with new security cameras coming soon to boost their armoury.
Belgrave Traders Association (BTA) president Donna Burgess said traders had worked hard to clean up graffiti after a couple of weeks in November when the problem threatened to escalate.
Ms Burgess hoped to bolster efforts to keep the township clear with the introduction of new closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
Traders purchased the cameras with the help of a grant from the Federal Government’s National Community Crime Prevention Program (NCCPP). Traders and Belgrave police have been discussing the strategic placing of the cameras within the township and Ms Burgess looked forward to having them installed soon.
“The cameras should be in place, if not by the end of the year, then definitely by the end of January,” she said.
“We hope they will act as a deterrent.”
Senior Sergeant Doug Berglund of Belgrave police said a community-based approach had resulted in the provision of the cameras which would be a useful tool in crime prevention.
“They’re basically a witness that’s always there,” he said.
“They’re very important in the interests of public safety and order.”
La Trobe MP Jason Wood, who congratulated the BTA on its initiative in obtaining funds for the scheme in August, warned vandals they would be caught, prosecuted and punished when the cameras identified them.
“These young people are causing not only a great deal of concern for the traders but also to the elderly,” he said.
“Graffiti really brings the area down.”
Mr Wood urged parents to take more responsibility for their children’s behaviour and to question them if they were in possession of markers and spray cans.