MONCTON, N.B. – Codiac Regional RCMP has arrested a Moncton man in relation to several incidents of graffiti in Greater Moncton.
The arrest was made as of the result of the investigative work of Const. Chris Fader, whose interest in graffiti and the impact it had on citizens was sparked by his 11-year-old daughter.
“Last spring we were driving through Moncton and it was my daughter who pointed out several buildings that had graffiti painted on them,” says Fader “She wondered why people would do such a thing, so I thought I would find out, because if my daughter was thinking that, so were many other people.”
After that conversation with his daughter he took a course to learn more about graffiti, then took it upon himself to document all the graffiti markings he could find in the three communities and more specifically, the tag or the signature a person or group uses to identify their graffiti. He was able to identify markings on approximately 10 buildings in Greater Moncton. The graffiti resulted in thousands of dollars in damage and cost to property owners to remove the paint.
On Feb. 13, 2013, Fader, along with other Codiac RCMP officers, executed a search warrant based on the information he had collected. Hundreds of items related to graffiti were seized in the home of the 27-year-old man. He was later released and will be appearing in court at a later date. Other persons are also being investigated and could be charged at a later date.
Officials with the Codiac RCMP say they will not be releasing any pictures of the actual graffiti or tags in order to avoid fulfilling the need for recognition that is often sought by the people responsible for this type of vandalism.
Anyone with information on graffiti in the Greater Moncton area is asked to contact Codiac Regional RCMP at 506-857-2400.
LEAFTWIGS, I don't think that you've thought about it enough. If you look at some of the graffiti around town, yes you can absolutely tell it wasn't done as art. Most of it, however requires a huge amount of considerable talent and time. I don't believe this article or this act deserves any praise. When we have speed and MDMA floating around high schools, the police should be preoccupied with more substantial crimes. And yes, graffiti is expensive to remove, but if the municipal government would reserve a spot for these artists to paint legally, I'm sure the real artists would flock to it, and those "pissed off punks" would be singled out. All this act of removal does is promote more substantial destruction to property. If an angry kid writes his name on a corner, and comes back to see a large gray spot in its place, he pulls out his keys and scratch the same thing in the window. Instead of simply removing it, the government has to find a way to prevent it. Art galleries, public displays, showcases for these artists, something to draw them into the public eye where they want to be. I'm sorry but this is not a good example of police caring about their community, its a sad step backward for our community.