Snitch on a graffiti vandal and earn yourself a £500 reward, police urged today.
The incentive scheme, designed to tackle the problem affecting south Essex communities, is being piloted in the Basildon area and could be extended to Southend.
Southend police's five "most wanted" vandals are NASTY, NERA, ZENA, MESA and NEKA.
PC Darren Griffin, Basildon's community liaison officer, said: "Graffiti is a real problem for the community.
"It costs about £60 an hour to remove graffiti and Basildon Council spent around £150,000 in one year on cleaning.
"One of the ways to reduce this problem is by helping us to identify the people doing it. If you recognise someone then contact us and there could be a reward."
Sgt Gary Lane, of the Leigh community policing team, which specialises in graffiti monitoring in Southend, thought the reward scheme was a good idea.
He said: "It's fair enough, as most people probably would not bother to phone up about a graffiti tag, even if they knew who it was."
Published Tuesday August 3, 2004
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