City of Burnaby

MAYOR'S TASK FORCE ON GRAFFITI

I NOTICE OF MEETING I DATE: WEDNESDAY, 2013 DECEMBER 18

TIME: 6:00 P.M. (Dinner Served 5:00 - 6:00 pm in Cafeteria)

. PLACE: COMMITTEE ROOMS 1 & lA, OFFICE OF CITY CLERK, GROUND FLOOR, BURNABY CITY HALL, 4949 CANADA WAY

AGENDA

1. MINUTES

a) The minutes of the Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti meeting held on 2012 November 20

2. REPORT

a) Report from Director Engineering Re: Anti-Graffiti Program

3. NEW BUSINESS

4. INQUIRIES

5. ADJOURNMENT

PAGE

1 - 3

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CITY OF BURNABY

MAYOR'S TASK FORCE ON GRAFFITI

MINUTES

An Open Meeting of the Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti was held in the Clerk's Committee Room 1 & lA, City Hall, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, BC on Tuesday, 2012 November 20 at 6:00p.m.

PRESENT: Colleen Jordan, Chair Councillor Paul McDonell, Vice Chair Mr. Cole Bennett, St. Leonard's Youth & Family Services Mr. Glenn de la Rambelje, Ivanhoe Cambridge/Bumaby Board of Trade Ms. Diane Gillis, Kingsway/Imperial Neighbourhood Association Ms. Deb Moore, Southwest PAC Trustee Baljinder Narang, School Board Representative Ms. Carolyn Orazitti, North Road Business Association Mr. Ken Ryan, Lougheed PAC Mr. Dave Switzer, Heights Merchants Association Mr. Tony Wong, Hastings/Brentwood PAC Ms. Debbie Zurowski, Southeast PAC

ABSENT: Councillor Richard Chang, Member Mr. Chris Hildred, Burnaby Crime Prevention Association

STAFF: Mr. Doug Louie, Assistant Director Engineering-Traffic and Parking Mgt. Ms. Kathy Wipf, Anti-Graffiti Coordinator Cst. Shelby Murphy, Southeast Community Police Office Ms. Eva Prior, Administrative Officer 1

The Chair called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.

1. MINUTES

a) Open meeting of the Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti held on 2011 May 17

MOVED BY MS. ORAZITTI: SECONDED BY MS. GILLIS:

"THAT the minutes of the Open meeting of the Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti held on 2011 May 17 be adopted."

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

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Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti Minutes - 2012 November 20

2. REPORT

MOVED BY MR. WONG: SECONDED BY MR. SWITZER:

"THAT the report be received."

Page 2

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

a) Report from Director Engineering Re: Anti-Graffiti Strategy

A report was received from Acting Director Engineering regarding the Anti­Graffiti Strategy including work in progress in each of the four elements of eradication, education, prevention, and identification and deterrence.

Kathy Wipf, Anti-Graffiti Coordinator and Cst. Shelby Murphy, Burnaby RCMP gave a presentation to the Committee providing further information regarding the Anti-Graffiti program as well as information on the restorative justice 'Beyond the Wall' program.

**Councillor McDonell retiredfrom the Committee Room and did not return. ** **Trustee Narang retired from the Committee Room and did not return. **

The Director Engineering recommended:

1. That the Task Force on Graffiti receive this report and forward it to Council for information.

MOVED BY COUNCILLOR MCDONELL: SECONDED BY MS. ORAZITTI:

"THAT the recommendation of the Director Engineering be adopted."

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. NEW BUSINESS

Ms. Carolyn Orazitti, North Road Business Association thanked Council and the City for the difference the anti-graffiti program is making in the area. Ms. Orazitti also wanted to thank the City for the mural painted on the Sears Warehouse at 9850 Austin Road.

Mayor's Task Force on GraffTii Minutes - 2012 November 20

4. INQUIRIES

Page 3

No inquiries were brought before the Task Force at this time.

5. ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY MS. ORAZITTI: SECONDED BY MS. GILLIS:

"THAT this meeting do now adjourn."

The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.

Eva Prior ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER 1

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Councillor C. Jordan CHAIR

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• ~ City of iI'f" Burmiliy

Meeting 2013 Dec 18

COMMITTEE REPORT

TO: CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF MAYOR'S TASK FORCE ON GRAFFITI

DATE: 2013 December 10

FROM: DIRECTOR ENGINEERING

SUBJECT: ANTI-GRAFFITI PROGRAM

PURPOSE: To provide a progress report on the Anti-Graffiti Program

RECOMMENDATION:

1. THAT the Task Force on Graffiti receive this report and forward it to Council for information.

REPORT

The Anti-Graffiti Program was developed by the Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti and adopted by Council in 2007 February. This report highlights some of the recent work in each of the 4 elements of Eradication, Education, Prevention, and Identification and Deterrence.

1.0 ERADICATION

This element of the anti-graffiti strategy facilitates the timely removal of graffiti and encourages reporting of graffiti. Work processes in this area are established and ongoing.

Table 1: Summary of Reported Graffiti Incidents up to June 2013

REPORT TYPE 07/Jun-08/Jun 08/Jun-09/Jun 09/Jun-lO/Jun lO/Jun-lllJun ll/Jun-12/Jun 12lJun-13Jun Total

PRIVATE 203 249 67 49 142 126 836 PROPERTY

CITY PROP. 504 214 126 114 171 218 1147 TOTAL

1.1 Private Property

Since the graffiti bylaw inception in 2007 September there have been 836 bylaw notices sent to tenants and business or property owners with the majority (90%) of them satisfactorily resolved. A summary is provided in Table 1. On private property the number of reported graffiti incidents has decreased slightly from last year.

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To: Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti From: Director of Engineering Re: ANTI-GRAFFITI PROGRAM 2013 December 10 .......................................................... Page 2

To assist property owners who are victimized repeatedly with graffiti, the City coordinates "Community Paint Outs" throughout the year whereby volunteers help paint out graffiti at no cost to the property/business owners. This year the Burnaby Metrotown Rotary provided numerous hours of volunteer time to graffiti paint outs.

1.2 City Property

City staff continue to be diligent in promptly removing graffiti from City property when identified. Despite this, the number of incidents has increased from last year. This appears to be related to increased activity by known graffiti vandals.

The City's bus shelters and street light poles have had the largest increase in graffiti incidences. Acid etching of glass panels are beginning to reappear because some local craft stores have begun displaying their acid etching products on their shelves, instead of behind a locked area. Craft stores have been advised about the problem and are being encouraged to lock up their products once again.

1.3 Public Utilities

Table 2: Summary of Reported Graffiti Incidents on Public Utilities up to June 2013

REPORT 07/Jun to 08/Jun to 09/Jun to lO/Jun to l1/Jun to 12/Jun to TYPE 08/Jun 09/Jun lO/Jun 11/Jun 12/Jun 13/Jun

Translink 51 II 7 8 15 20

BC Hydro 23 24 25 15 14 23

Telus 12 5 3 6 3 5

Cda Post 93 79 23 32 12 24

Total 179 119 58 61 44 72

BC Hydro is being encouraged by the City to establish a more proactive ant-graffiti program. Progress has been made for Hydro to be more accountable in the removal of graffiti on their property. The number of Hydro boxes cleaned this year has been noticeable and they remain clear to this date. Hydro continues to supply paint and supplies to City of Burnaby and to property owners to assist in cleaning their transformer boxes.

Translink has hired a public and community relations officer this past year whose portfolio includes the investigation of graffiti on their buses, trains, and infrastructure. This has benefited in the fight against graffiti in Burnaby and throughout the Lower Mainland.

To: Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti From: Director of Engineering Re: ANTI-GRAFFITI PROGRAM 2013 December 10 .......................................................... Page 3

2.0 EDUCATION

Education is essential to raise awareness in the community about the negative impact and costs associated with graffiti, and about the importance of timely removal. The City of Burnaby and the RCMP Anti-Graffiti Coordinators have undertaken several initiatives to educate the community about graffiti, particularly its potential to lead to Criminal Code and City Bylaw offences.

Some highlights this year include:

• Presentations to a wide variety of people including RCMP staff, residents, youth involved in graffiti, property and business owners, students and teachers.

• Showing of Clean Up Your Act play at 15 Elementary Schools, focusing on recycling, litter, and graffiti.

• Attendance at 4 Community Safety Forums.

• Creation of Water Bottles, Magnets, Pens and Zipper Pulls for the general public, community groups and volunteers to help raise awareness.

• Educational presentations targeted to Grade 6 and 7 in the Elementary Schools.

Education Plans for 2014

The City of Burnaby and Burnaby RCMP are planning a Workshop in early March to enhance communication and reporting protocols to better work together with all other municipalities to deal with graffiti. The Workshop will show how Burnaby's Anti-Graffiti Program was successfully initiated and demonstrate the connection between a prolific tagger and the high cost· of other related crime within the community.

One purpose of the Workshop is to encourage all municipalities to report every incident of graffiti in a consistent manner, and to share that information to allow a coordinated response where required. This would help deal with graffiti vandals that operate in several municipalities.

3.0 PREVENTION

The prevention element of the anti-graffiti strategy is designed to better protect public and private property from graffiti vandalism. Highlights for the past year include:

• Installation of 15 anti-graffiti wraps on new or replacement signal controller cabinets • Installation of 5 new murals throughout the City of Burnaby

Of.)

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To: Mayor 's Task Force on Graffiti From: Director of Engineering Re: ANTI-GRAFFITI PROGRAM 2013 December 10 .. ........ .... ... .... ..... .. ... ..... ........... ....... .... Page 4

• RCMP Community Justice Forum Facilities Training at Burnaby RCMP. The training introduced the values and principles of restorative justice and taught the process of how to run your own forum with youth at risk.

MURAL PROGRAM

This year the mural program has provided grants to five property owners. In September, one of the new murals installed at 7033 Antrim A venue was defaced by a vandal. The same vandal also defaced the Veteran's Mural on Kingsway west of Walker A venue. These incidences continue to be actively investigated by the Burnaby RCMP. Thankfully both murals were protected with an Anti-Graffiti Sealant. The artist, Todd Polich, restored both murals at his own cost. The City and community greatly appreciated his efforts in this regard.

CITY OF BURNABY'S INTERNATIONAL MURAL PROJECT

The City is currently proposing an international mural project between the City of Burnaby and our sister city Guiyang, China. The project proposes to facilitate an art exchange between artists from the two cities occurring in 2014 and 2015. The international project will be a jointly designed and produced pair of art murals located in Burnaby and Guiyang that will create a single, larger image when put together focusing on the themes of People & Culture, Environment, and Artistic Expression.

Proposed Location

Currently the City is looking at a number of possible locations in Burnaby that are high visibility, have open and safe access for painting, and that have experienced graffiti issues in the past.

To : Mayor's Task Force on Graffiti From: Director of Engineering Re: ANTI-GRAFFITI PROGRAM 2013 December 10 ... .. ....... .... ....... ..... .... ............ ... ..... ...... Page 5

Several potential locations exist along the Expo Sky train line, Central Burnaby, North Road Millennium Sky train lines, and the Edmonds Street area.

Theme

The theme of the mural will be an "East meets West" illustration of human living space in harmonious balance with the natural environment. The design will amalgamate the images of people, culture, and environment from Burnaby and Guiyang into a cohesive image that shows our commonality and embraces our differences. The murals will embrace and honor our distinctive cultures and that of our indigenous people. The motivation of the theme is to spotlight our global community and our sharing of global environment.

The Anti-Graffiti Mural Program will provide up to a maximum of $3,500.00 for this mural under the guidelines of the Program. Additional funding may be required from other sources.

4.0 IDENTIFICATION AND DETERRENCE

This element of the anti-graffiti strategy focuses on identifying vandals and holding them responsible for their actions. Highlights for the past year include:

• Development of Metro Vancouver/Fraser Valley Graffiti Task Force. Future plans will include joint police operations to target chronic offenders within each community.

• Burnaby RCMP is now working with Vancouver Island partners to create an Island Task Force. The goal is to have all police/City task forces in both the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island work on similar goals. Nanaimo RCMP has a Graffiti Task Force meeting every few months where community partners like Hydro, Telus, the School Board and Crimestoppers attend. It is our intention to create something similar in early 2014 and involve as many community partners as possible.

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• RCMP Anti-Graffiti Officer will be working with other police officers to create training materials for Crown Counsel. Increasing Crown Counsel's knowledge regarding graffiti and its subculture should help to facilitate charge approval for graffiti related offences in British Columbia.

• Participation in the Restorative Justice Program for Youth involved with graffiti and Beyond the Wall. Over the past year staff dealt with youth who have been identified with being involved with graffiti. Presentations, and Restorative Justice Circles have benefited these youth and parents. Success of this program is evidenced by the fact that no new youth has been referred to the program since September.

The Burnaby Graffiti Bylaw, unlike many others, allows the City and the RCMP to do enforcement based on the "Balance of Probabilities". New Bylaw ticket books have been created to facilitate the process and will be distributed to all Burnaby uniform police officers, making it easier to issue.

The City of Burnaby and RCMP are treating graffiti vandalism with zero tolerance. When caught, adult offenders are charged criminally, where evidence exists. Young people engaged in this behavior are either referred to Burnaby RCMP's Restorative Justice Program or to the new Beyond the Wall program.

SUMMARY

Over the past year, the Anti-Graffiti Program has benefited from a more integrated approach between City and RCMP staff. As a result, there has been progress in outreach to the community resulting in greater public awareness and support. Despite ongoing efforts, there is a need for continued vigilance by the City and the community as evidenced by the slight increase of graffiti incidences over the last year. There is continued interest throughout North America in Burnaby's Anti-Graffiti Program.

~?efobrt~ovided for the information of the TaskForce and Council.

b~ous, P. Eng., MBA DIRECTOR ENGINEERING

KW:ac

Copied to: City Manager Director Finance Director Planning and Building Director Parks Recreation and Cultural Services RCMP-OIC Burnaby Detachment Chief Supt Dave Critchley