“It’s definitely got worse in the past three years and right now it’s really bad in Midland,” he said.
“As soon as a building becomes empty, they start tagging the walls with their nickname or sign.
“There’s nothing artistic about what taggers are doing.”
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READ NOWMr Hood has worked for the City of Swan for the past seven years and said graffiti had been around since the time of the Pharaohs.
He said it was heartbreaking to see taggers vandalise homes on the new Waterhall Estate, in South Guildford.
Midland and Koongamia are other areas frequently abused and recently taggers ‘inked’ chevron road signs in Wooroloo.
City of Swan Chief Executive Officer Mike Foley said graffiti had increased slightly in the Midland area in the past year.
He said the City ran GrafFix workshops to engage local young people in legal urban art projects and reduce illegal graffiti.
The first project this year involved students from La Salle College brightening two bus stops on Great Northern Highway.
“We are adding to our CCTV camera network and use rapid removal strategies on both private and public properties, along with planned monitoring of known hotspots,” he said.
The City of Swan is part of a juvenile justice team-funded program where young offenders clean up their graffiti and tags within the council area.
Graffiti removal costs the City about $195,000 annually.
Recent changes to council policy permits the operators to remove graffiti on private property, as well as City buildings, where the graffiti is visible from a public area.
The City plans to distribute long-term waivers to all residents and ratepayers.
In addition, the City is investigating various apps and other tools for the quick reporting of graffiti and vandalism.
Anyone with information about offenders should call 131 444 or the 24-hour Goodbye Graffiti Hotline on 1800 442255.
Graffiti clean-ups can be requested by calling 9267 9267.