Prison sentences and compensation demands have curbed graffiti in Helsinki

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The number of unauthorized scribbles and graffiti on property has dropped to one-tenth in Helsinki, and in the city's own buildings to one-fifth of what it was in 1999.
      According to the statistics of the City of Helsinki's project called Stop töhryille ("Stop Tagging"), over 5,400 tags and 124 large-scale graffiti paintings were recorded in Helsinki last year. In comparison, the number of scribbles in 1999 was close to 68,000, while that of large paintings was also over 3,100.
     
The aim of the project, which was launched in 1998, is to clean up tags and graffiti as well as stickers and posters in the city as soon as they appear.
      As a result of some stiff prison sentences and large compensation demands, the bulk of graffiti vandalism has disappeared, even though occasionally some individual perpetrators are caught.
     
The streets have been cleaned up, but not all citizens are delighted. For example, Paavo Arhinmäki (Left Alliance), a member of the Helsinki City Council, feels that the cleaning up of all graffiti is too costly for the city.
      Arhinmäki suggests instead that the city should organise events and commission authorized works from the spray artists.
      The leader of the "Stop Tagging" project does not wish to comment on the project, nor does he want his employees to give any comments using their own names. This policy is backed by the Mayor for Public Works and Environmental Affairs, Pekka Sauri (Green League), because the workers have been threatened and libelled, with malicious statements about them incorporated into the wall paintings.
     
Since 1998, the total funding for the Stop töhryille project has amounted to over EUR nine million. In the year 2000 alone, when Helsinki was one of the European Cultural Cities, the project was granted close to EUR two million. After that the sum of money has been decreasing, and the budget for the current year is below EUR 700,000.
      On the other hand, also other city departments allocate money to the cleaning-up of defaced property and to other anti-graffiti operations, including the services of a private security company.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Four get prison sentences for graffiti - total of 22 convictions (21.9.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat