KEY POINTS:
A policeman who's "had a gutsful" of graffiti has caught five taggers after he staked out a park in his own time.
Constable Loyd Buckley caught the teenagers - all aged between 14 and 16 - in Tauranga's Memorial Park between 9pm and 3am overnight last Friday, and confiscated 19 aerosol cans.
Mr Buckley carried out the sting in his own time because he was sick of graffiti and vandalism, which he said was the worst he had seen in his 40 years in the city.
Police say the five offenders will be dealt with in various ways, depending on their attitudes, previous offences and the amount of damage they have caused.
Mr Buckley, Tauranga's full-time police recruiting officer, conducted Operation Tag-It at the park to catch taggers and vandals - and has warned that similar operations could follow.
He witnessed not only tagging, but also burn outs, bonnet surfing and a window being smashed.
For each incident, he communicated via radio to on-duty police who took the offenders away.
About 1.10am, a group of youths were at the park krumping, he said, and not causing any trouble. They had music playing from their car stereos, but it was not too loud, and a group of them were playing touch.
Another group then came into the park and threw a bottle at the youths, before disappearing behind the Tauranga Rowing Club, leaving a mess of graffiti in their wake.
Mr Buckley followed them when they left the park, went to town then returned. He then witnessed a second attack on the rowing club.
"The smallest one in the group took off his jersey, wrapped it around his fist and punched out a window," he said. The 14-year-old boy was subsequently arrested.
Police then closed the park, allowing residents a rare night in peace.
Memorial Park is part of what he has been dubbed a "crime corridor" and encompasses the area leading from Devonport Rd, down into 6th Ave and Memorial Park and along Fraser St to Merivale. He said the pool, rowing club, private fences along Fraser St and the Merivale Shopping Centre were all targets for taggers within the "corridor".
Mr Buckley's passion to tackle the problem came after he made several trips down to Memorial Pool on consecutive days and saw council contractors painting over the work of taggers.
"I thought 'this is ridiculous'. What a cost to the taxpayer and the council."
Mr Buckley said the graffiti and vandalism in Tauranga was something he wanted to sort out as a member of the community. He said after 40 years in Tauranga, he had never seen it so bad.
Mr Buckley said last week's vandalism of the Cenotaph at Memorial Park also had an emotive side.
"You can't understand why people would want to attack name plaques of people who have given their lives for the country."
