TAGS 2009

The Anti-Graffiti Symposium

Speaker Bios

Randy Campbell - The NoGraf Network, Richland, Washington

Randy Campbell brings with him an expert knowledge of graffiti. Mr. Campbell is a retired California Highway Patrol Officer who has been involved in several high profile Graffiti investigations since 1988. Among other achievements, Randy Campbell is President and Executive Director of The NoGraf Network Inc. The mission of the NoGraf Network is to contribute to the creation of safe and clean communities, the healthy development of youth, the improvement of quality of life and the prevention of graffiti vandalism.

We are honoured to have Mr. Campbell as our Keynote speaker. Mr. Campbell will also be doing a presentation on covert camera systems and the usage of web-based technologies.  

Detective Constable Valerie Spicer – Vancouver Police Department
Portrait of a Vandal

Valerie Spicer has been a police constable with the Vancouver Police Department for the past 10 years. She spent her first four years as a patrol constable in the south west sector of Vancouver. For the following four years, she joined the property crime unit as a graffiti investigator. She is currently part of the beat team working in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. She holds a bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University (1991), a Master of Art History from the University of Montreal (1994), and a Master of Criminology from Simon Fraser University (2004). She is a PhD candidate in the Criminology program at Simon Fraser University. She co-initiated the RESTART program which is a restorative art program for graffiti offenders for which she received an honorable mention from the Canadian Minister of Justice.  She met with graffiti investigators from across North America including New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, and Toronto, and realized that formal graffiti investigation training was very sparse. As a result, she initiated a Canadian graffiti investigator conference called TAGS (The Anti-Graffiti Symposium) which is now in its fifth year. She is a two-time Herman Goldstein award finalist. She has presented on graffiti at various conferences including the British Columbia Forensic Conference, the Applied Research Symposium at the Justice Institute of British Columbia and the Western Society of Criminology Conference. Her other academic research areas include chronic property offending, juvenile risk predictors, problem oriented policing, environmental criminology, computational criminology and CPTED.

Detective Constable Lee Jones - Saskatoon Police Service
Search Warrants and Video Interviewing

Detective Constable Lee Jones emigrated from England in 2000, having completed 12 years service with the British Army and 3 years service with Warwickshire Constabulary, to join the Saskatoon Police Service. Since then he has worked in Patrol Division, Community Services and is currently assigned to the Anti Graffiti Unit, Criminal Investigations Division. With more than 8 years experience conducting graffiti criminal investigations, as well as pioneering the use of several investigative techniques, he has gained a reputation as the leading Canadian expert in this field. He is also credited with developing the Graffiti Investigators online course with The Canadian Police Knowledge Network (CPKN).

 

Rick Stanton- City of San Jose California
“10 Steps to a Graffiti Free City”.

Rick Stanton is a graduate of San José State University and he began working for the City of San José in 1975, and from 1994 to 1997 was the Manager of Project Crackdown. This neighborhood improvement program concentrated the combined efforts of the Police Department, Code Enforcement and Community Organizing , and resulted in crime and graffiti blight being drastically reduced in several disadvantaged neighborhoods in the City of San José. In 1997, Rick was assigned to supervise the Anti-Graffiti Program and then in 2002, the Mayor added the Anti-Litter Program  to his responsibilities, which he managed successfully until his retirement in April 2007. 

When Rick started with the Anti-Graffiti Program, graffiti was seemingly everywhere. The existing program was providing several services that looked good on paper, but were not very effective, and a lot of money was being wasted because the staff resources was not being utilized properly. As a matter of fact, the first city wide graffiti survey completed in 1999 found 71,541 tags that were visible from the streets of San José, and after re-focusing on new priorities with the help of the Mayor and City Council, an amazing improvement began to take shape. This programs success culminated with only 129 tags being counted during the 2006 survey which displayed an amazing 99.88% reduction in graffiti from 1999. Rick has also had the opportunity to share the story of San José’s success in reducing graffiti as a workshop leader at national conferences in New York, Washington, D.C., and Utah.

Ann Cooney - City of Calgary, Alberta
"Painted Problems"

Ann Cooney is known for her lively and informative presentations on graffiti. She is the author of Painted Problems, an anti graffiti education tool for youth. Her presentation will include understanding issues from the graffiti writer’s perspective and how that information can be used to discourage youth from writing. Crime prevention through early intervention and empowerment is key to reducing the number of youth engaging in graffiti crime. Ann has presented in Canada, USA and Bermuda. She has managed federal Crime Prevention Programs and was a Canadian Immigration Officer. 

Sergeant Wendy Hawthorne – Greater Vancouver Transit Authority
The Hawthorne Effect - 2010 Update 

Sgt Hawthorne has been investigating graffiti crimes for 20 years with the Vancouver Transit Authority. She will present her unique method that she developed for serial graffiti crimes. She will also speak about style comparisons and her partnership with other agencies throughout British Columbia towards effective solutions to fight the ongoing and growing graffiti blight in our communities. 




Stewart Andrews – Auckland, New Zealand
Municipal Panellist

Stewart Andrews is the Project Coordinator for the Auckland Region Graffiti Free (ARGF) project. This is a partnership program funded by the Chief Executives of seven Territorial Local Authorities of regional Auckland and three Police District Commanders, policing Metropolitan Auckland. As well as working with police and local government, Stewart works with the business sector, service providers, utilities companies, transport operators, communities of interest and central government agencies towards a common goal of graffiti eradication across the region by 2012.

With initial funding for three years, the ARGF project has been operating now for 24 months and has already met many of its stated deliverables while demonstrating a level of collaboration seldom seen between so many diverse organisations. This, especially following a decision to merge the existing seven local authorities and a regional council into one “super city”, will present significant opportunities as well as challenges for the Auckland Region Graffiti Free Project.

Tom Ethans - City of Winnipeg, Manitoba
Municipal Panelist

Tom Ethans is the Executive Director of Take Pride Winnipeg, a registered charitable organization dedicated to inspiring community pride, raising public awareness and promoting citizen responsibility in making the City of Winnipeg clean and beautiful. 

For the past eight years, Conni Kunzler has worked as Program Manager with Keep America Beautiful, Inc. and the Sherwin-Williams Company on Graffiti Hurts^®, a grassroots community education program.  Through Graffiti Hurts^®, she coordinates with Keep America Beautiful affiliates, local communities, and allied organizations to educate citizens about the impact of graffiti and to promote graffiti prevention.  The Graffiti Hurts^® web site (www.graffitihurts.org) provides graffiti prevention tools and resources for communities, tip sheets, curriculum and other youth education activities, and removal information.  Graffiti Hurts^® also publishes a bimonthly e-newsletter, and in 2007, Graffiti Hurts^® established a community based anti graffiti grant program. 

Conni will describe the Graffiti Hurts^® program, its approach to helping communities address graffiti vandalism, and new Graffiti Hurts^® activities and resources.

Lorne Fletcher - Senior Bylaw Enforcement Officer, City of Langford, BC.
Municipal Panelist: Accountability of parents of prolific graffiti vandals

Lorne Fletcher is the Manager of Municipal Bylaw Enforcement at the City of Langford on Vancouver Island.  Recently the City of Langford’s Municipal Bylaw Enforcement Division has been making national news headlines with its legal pursuits to address graffiti vandals and irresponsible parents.

Additionally, Lorne currently serves as President of the License Inspectors’ and Bylaw Officers’ Association of British Columbia and in that capacity has worked on projects with the Provincial Government to bring about various legislative improvements especially in the area of Bylaw Courts.  Lorne has also volunteered over 3,800 hours in the past nineteen years as an Auxiliary Constable with the RCMP ‘E’ Division Provincial Auxiliary Constable Program.  He presently sits on the Provincial and National Advisory Committees for the RCMP Auxiliary Constable Program and has chaired the Bylaw Subcommittee for the Greater Victoria Crystal Meth Task Force.  

Marcia Dennis - City of Portland, Oregon
Municipal Panelist 

Ms. Dennis has been the Graffiti Abatement Coordinator for the City of Portland, Oregon anti graffiti program since 2003 and has been involved in community based crime prevention programs (including graffiti issues) since 1998. She currently manages the ongoing database of graffiti reports, facilitates the monthly multi-agency graffiti task force meetings for networking and problem solving, notifies and provides cleanup assistance to private property owners, and works with Portland Police Department and the District Attorney's office to identify and prosecute graffiti vandals. In addition to her community based anti graffiti programs, Ms. Dennis is also responsible for the coordination of collaborative neighborhood volunteer cleanups and works with youth groups to create community mural projects.



Alison Rowley – North Shore Restorative Justice Society, Vancouver, BC
Restorative Justice

Ms. Rowley has been the Program coordinator for the North Shore Restorative Justice Society since 2006. She facilitates and processes case referrals from schools, the police and community agencies by designing restorative responses to adequately address harms. She will also speak about the “RESTART” program which is a creative and restorative response to graffiti; aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles and legal alternatives for graffiti writers.

Sergeant Dwight Waldo – San Bernardino Police, California
5 Types of Graffiti and their Cultures & Police Panelist

Sgt. Dwight Waldo supervises Patrol operations, the Graffiti Task Force and IMPACT. IMPACT is an award winning program dealing with youth crimes and juvenile probation issues based on the Boston Night Light program. Mr. Waldo has become recognized as one of the most knowledgeable persons in the USA in regards to law enforcement applications to the graffiti culture. He has developed an 8 hour certified course to educate over 1000 law enforcement professionals about the graffiti culture. Mr. Waldo has also been recognized as an expert in California Superior Court and has testified as a graffiti expert before the California State Senate Safety Committee.  

Scott Hilditch - Graffiti Hurts Australia, Victoria, Australia
Community Engagement - Keys to Success

Scott Hilditch is the founder and CEO of Graffiti Hurts – Australia, the only charity not for profit education institution Down Under tackling graffiti vandalism. With 10 years working for Keep Australia Beautiful, Scott developed a passion for graffiti education of the community and was invited by the then Victorian State Government to sit on the ‘Good Bye Graffiti’ government working group in 2001. Tired of hearing and seeing the buck passing from governments in tackling the problem and after discussions with Keep America Beautiful, an agreement to use the name of the very successful Keep America Beautiful program, Graffiti Hurts was put in place. Graffiti Hurts – Australia in the space of 12 months has become the preeminent community organisation working with the Federal, State and Local Governments, law enforcement, industry and businesses, schools and community in tackling graffiti vandalism and is the first point of call for the media across in Australia on the issue of graffiti. As graffiti crime knows no borders, Graffiti Hurts – Australia is working in the development and coordination of nationwide programs, resources and education of the Australia community with the understanding that it is not a government or law enforcement issue, but in fact, a community one.

Scott will talk on what is happening down under and how community engagement is the key to successfully tackling the issue.

Greg Perkins - Liahona Security Consortium 
CPTED: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.

Greg Perkins is a former 14 year member of the London City Police Service and the principal owner of Liahona Security Consortium Inc. Liahona Security Consortium is a Security Consulting firm established in 1995 that specializes in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) consulting and instruction, threat and risk assessment, loss prevention assessment and training, corporate training, internal and corporate investigation and security system design, evaluation and project management.

Mr. Perkins received his Level I and Level II CPTED Certification through the National Crime Prevention Institute (NCPI) at the University of Louisville (Kentucky) and has been consulting and lecturing on CPTED for over 13 years in British Columbia, Canada and the United States. Mr. Perkins is one of the foremost experts on CPTED in Canada and is also Founder & Chair of the non-profit Society - CPTED BC Association.

Tony Lake - Director, International CPTED Association (ICA)

Tony Lake is the ISMCPI Director of International Operations and a Senior Security & Crime Prevention Advisor with Amtac Professional Services Pty. Ltd., and  joined Amtac in 2007 after more than 36 years with the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

Until 1990, Tony was an operational police officer serving in various parts of Queensland, and in 1990 was promoted to the rank of Inspector and was one of three officers tasked with the implementation of community policing in Queensland. In the early 1990s he was a member of the project team formed to develop the 'Police Beat' Shopfront Program and was responsible for the development of the school based policing program for Queensland. Tony was responsible for introducing and promoting the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) to the QPS. Just prior to his retirement from QPS he was attached to the Office of the Commissioner where he developed CPTED Guidelines for the State of Queensland and drafted CPTED policy and training for the QPS.

Tony is currently a Director of the International CPTED Association (ICA), and has chaired the organising committees for both the 6th and 9th ICA CPTED Conferences held in Brisbane in 2001 and 2004, and co-authored and presented a paper at CPTED-2005 in Chile. Tony has delivered presentations on CPTED at the International Policing Conference, Illuminating Engineers Society of Australia & New Zealand, NZ Ministry of Justice and the Local Government New Zealand Community Safety Conference, and workshops for organisations such as Christchurch, Auckland, North Shore, Papakura, Porirua and Selwyn City and District Councils, Community Patrols NZ, Neighbourhood Support NZ and New Zealand Police. He has assisted with the development of CPTED solutions for areas in Napier, Turangi, North Shore, Christchurch, Porirua, Rotorua, Tauranga, Manakau and Rolleston in New Zealand, as well as in numerous locations in Australia.

Rob Boyles – City of San Jose, California
Volunteers: The Key to Your Success

Mr. Boyles, of Boyles & Associates - Graffiti Solution Consultants was the Coordinator of Volunteers for the City of San José’s Anti-Graffiti and Litter program for  9 years until his retirement in 2008. He has been successful in recruiting over 6000 volunteers for San José’s highly successful war on Graffiti and Litter. He will speak about his creative approach to recruit and retain volunteers, along with aggressive eradication, and enforcement. His Anti-Graffiti program has become a model for cities in the United Sates and internationally.

Martin Giles was born and raised in the United Kingdom.  At the age of 17 he moved to Germany with his family where he spent the next four years.  After traveling extensively he settled in Sweden in 1985 and commenced a career in marketing.  He first became involved in the issues of graffiti and surface finish cleaning and restoration in 1997.  He has worked extensively in that field ever since, traveling widely and becoming well acquainted with issues and techniques from North America and throughout Europe. For the past 7 years Martin has been working to develop different techniques to restore and protect glass from scratched and acid etch attack.  Martin has been a member of NOGRAF since 1998! 

Jeroen van Son - Vianen, The Netherlands
The Graffiti Scene in Europe

Jeroen van Son was born and raised in the Netherlands and after graduating from university with a degree in Business Administration /Commercial Economics, began his career working with several multinational companies involved in the plastics and adhesive product field including the US based  3M company. After 6 intensive years of being responsible for the marketing and development of various adhesive type materials, he started his own company in 2001  www.Fleetshield.nl   which specializes in protective plastic films designed to reduce the maintenance costs for the Benelux public transportation authorities such as the Amsterdam Metro, NS (National Dutch railway company), NS HiSpeed and Thalys International.  He has worked extensively in this  field for the last 8 years  primarily in The Benelux and more recently in Poland, Hungary, Denmark and Italy with the objective of demotivating the graffiti " terrorists", and simultaneously creating a maintenance and damage free environment while reducing graffiti damage costs by up to 90% for many of his customers.  Jeroen will give us an update as to general state of affairs regarding the growing graffiti crime challenges currently occuring in Europe.