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Napier City Council has a new weapon in its arsenal to fight the war against tagging.
The council has turned to mapping software in its bid to clean up the city of graffiti.
Council geographic information system administrator Simon Nitz said police and the council would use software to report and map graffiti locations in the city.
The system would aid the council to identify areas where prevention measures, such as better lighting and education were needed, he told The Dominion Post.
"One of the big advantages is that the location data is reported in a standardised form with `x' and `y' coordinates rather than someone describing a location as, for example, being five metres down the road from Smith Autoworks."
The public would not be able to use to the system, because it would "soon get out of control", Mr Nitz said.
Graffiti was not a huge problem in Napier compared to other cities, but it was "insidious", he said.
"The council believes it is important to get on to it quickly to prevent it becoming an eyesore. Napier has a strong tourist income and we want to protect that."
- NZPA
