NYPD’s Crime Prevention Tip of the Week: Vandalism

Is vandalism just part of living in the city?

Take a minute and read the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau’s tips about how to prevent vandalism:

Take a moment and look around your community, what do you see? Walls covered with graffiti? Spray paint on stop signs? Broken public telephones?

Unfortunately many of us have become accustomed to seeing such things and don't think of the real costs behind vandalism. While we are making great strides at reducing crime and maintaining historic lows, these incidents unfortunately do happen and we need your help!

Schools pay out millions of dollars each year to clean up graffiti, repair buildings, or replace vandalized equipment. That means less money for other programs. The City (and you as a taxpayer) is forced to pay the bills for broken street lights, stolen signs, and vandalized parks. Local businesses pass the costs of vandalism on to customers through higher prices, and homeowners have to spend their hard earned money to make unnecessary repairs. 

A community's first step in taking back its streets is getting rid of graffiti immediately, and working together we can win this battle. 

Things you can do to help prevent vandalism: 

• Be informed about the costs of vandalism, and ensure your children and neighbors are also aware of all the direct and indirect costs
• Clean up vandalism as soon as it happens—if it is on city property or relates to a city-owned item (street lights, signs etc.) call 311 to report it
• Protect your house or apartment from vandalism by using good lighting and locking gates and garages
• If you see anyone committing vandalism, report it to the police immediately—remember, vandalism is a crime!
• Once the graffiti is gone, use landscape designs (such as prickly shrubs or closely planted hedges), building materials (such as hard-to-mark surfaces), lighting, or fences to discourage future vandalism

For more information on all of the programs the NYPD offers, or for crime prevention and personal safety tips visit: http://www.nypdcommunityaffairs.org/.

The next meeting of the 112 Precinct Community Council will be held on Jan. 16.