DROITWICH Police have been putting community resolutions to good use to combat the town’s graffiti problem.
In the last three weeks, two young people have righted their wrongs when defacing areas of the town.
In the first incident, Droitwich Police met with the youth, who had sprayed graffiti on the door of a building.
Under the supervision of officers, he cleaned off the paint and was given a Community Protection Notice warning him about his behaviour.
Just days later, another teenager admitted graffitiing an underpass in Droitwich.
On that occasion, because cleaning was not an option, he was given the chance to paint over the scrawl, again under the supervision of a police officer.
Droitwich Police said the two people identified for causing some of the graffiti in the town was down to a mixture of good proactive work between patrol officers, the Safer Neighbourhood Team and a member of the community who reported an incident. This led to the identification of one of the people who had graffitied part of the town.
Sgt Cathy Atkinson, from Droitwich Police SNT, said: “Due to the age of the two people identified, who both admitted to the damage that they had caused, the genuine remorse they showed meant a Community Resolution was deemed the best outcome.
“Community Resolutions are a method of dealing with an offender for a lower-level crime, in a way which is proportionate, by encouraging offenders to face up to the impact of their behaviour and to take responsibility for their actions and to rectify their mistake.
“This is a second chance for the offender if they make amends to the community or victim.”
Community resolutions are aimed at reducing the likelihood of reoffending, through educating and providing consequences.
Sgt Atkinson added: “On both occasions ‘Restorative Justice’ was utilised, as part of their conditions, involving cleaning the graffiti that they had caused.
“This had a tangible benefit to all participants, including the offender, community and the victims and I am confident they will not reoffend.”
Anyone with information on those responsible for graffiti in Droitwich should call police on 101.
