We asked Concord Police Chief John Duval to weigh in on graffiti from the city's perspective. Our questions are in bold.
If someone is caught doing graffiti, what kind of penalties can they face? Does it depend on where and how they do it?
Damage to property is called criminal mischief (New Hampshire RSA 634:2). Penalties include fines and/or jail, depending on the circumstances. Also, depending on the pecuniary loss, it could be a Class A misdemeanor or Class B felony. In addition, if they break into a building to do it, there could be an additional breaking and entering charge.
How is graffiti trending right now? Have there been more reported incidents in the last few years than in the past, fewer, or about the same?
There has been an increase in damage to property by way of graffiti, especially in the business district of downtown. I would say the increase has been noticed over the past year or so.
How does the city go about covering up the graffiti around town? There are some spots that seem to be obviously painted over, and others that have been untouched for at least a year. What are the factors that lead you to cover something up?
If it's private property, the property owner would be responsible. The city would be responsible for cleaning up city property. Same for the state. Certainly the most obvious types of damage gets a quicker action of cleanup.
Any idea how much graffiti removal costs the city each year?
General Services would be best to answer that question. I imagine that it would certainly be in the hundreds if not low thousands of dollars. Cleanup includes labor costs in addition to cleaning materials and paint if necessary.
We talked to a local street artist this week who basically told us that his goal is to beautify the city and give people something to think about to get them out of their everyday grind. Can you see a distinction between painting a colorful mural on an underpass versus breaking in to someone's business and vandalizing it or scribbling hate speech on a wall somewhere? Or is graffiti graffiti, regardless of the artist's intentions?
I begin by asking the question: What right does anyone have to deface the property of another because of artistic intention? Taxpayers' money pays for bridges, signs, buildings, etc.
There are many communities across the country that allocate space for the purpose of artistic expression. If everyone wanted to “express” themselves by way of graffiti, albeit well-intentioned, the community would very soon lose its appeal and it would greatly reduce the quality of life that we enjoy here in Concord.
Do you think that the prevalence of graffiti in a city leads to a bad element moving in? Is more graffiti a sign of things going from bad to worse? Or is just something that happens in all sizable cities?
The imagery of illegal graffiti presents a bad impression. It's not good for business and its not good for the image of a community. A clean community is an inviting community.
Any messages for those folks out there responsible for Concord's graffiti?
Channel your talent through lawful means. Work with the community to get sanctioned areas to express your art. People, including taxpayers, pay a great deal of money to create a clean, positive, inviting image for their business and for the community at large.
