KEY POINTS:
Rotorua police are asking retailers to ban the sale of spray paint to suspected taggers to curb the number of people going to dangerous lengths to vandalise buildings.
Senior Sergeant Brent Crowe said taggers were scaling buildings up to four storeys high to spray graffiti on the hardest-to-reach spot to impress other taggers.
"That puts people at risk. Obviously we are wanting to do something about it," he said.
A letter sent to retailers around the city asked them to voluntarily ban under-16s from buying spray paint and to keep the cans in secure displays.
The ban would extend to anyone, regardless of age, whom the retailer suspected of using spray paint for graffiti.
Police were also urging parents to be more aware of what their children were doing.
"Over the last couple of months, police have apprehended people as young as nine or 10 [for graffiti] in the evening or late at night," Mr Crowe said.
He said a lot of the graffiti was from kids identifying with a particular location around the city. A few of the youths "aligned" themselves with gangs, wearing their colours or signing a gang name, but most were not actually affiliated with them in any way, he said.
The Rotorua approach is a softer touch than that of the Manukau City Council's. In response to its growing graffiti problem, the council drafted legislation which would give it more power to control the sale of spray paint and allow police to arrest suspected offenders.
The bill passed its second reading by 108 votes to 10 on June 27 and the final reading is scheduled for September 19.
- NZPA
