VANDALS and “graffidiots” in the Rockingham area will receive special attention from two new police officers dedicated to stamping out the unsightly scourge of tags and scribbles that plague our community.
Constables Jamie Stanford and Jill Gray began work last week and already have a couple of good leads, thanks to help from the public with identifying people suspected of local vandalism.
The new graffiti taskforce comes under the umbrella of Rockingham police station’s inquiry team, headed up by newcomer and former organised crime squad member Sergeant Andrew Coen who has 11 officers at his disposal to investigate ongoing crime.
Const. Stanford, a recent West Australian arrival after nine years with the UK’s military police and seven with the civil force, said he and Const. Gray would initially concentrate on catching people who carry out daily or habitual tagging and encouraged the public to help supply intelligence that may identify offenders.
They pair had already begun forging close links with local schools to get details on graffiti suspects who often followed a gang mentality.
“It’s early days and we have a big job ahead of us but graffiti will be our fulltime focus,” Const. Stanford said.