How to Report Vandalism

Vandalism is often seen as a victimless crime, but there are costs and emotional scarring of property involved. Vandalism is not just about the vandal who vandalized the area, but about the response or lack thereof of the people in the community and their level of pride for their neighborhood. Use these steps to learn the appropriate way to report vandalism.

Instructions

1. Take a picture of the vandalism. This is not only important for the report of the vandalism, but will also be passed along to the gang activity unit of your police department, who track gang activity and know how to decipher gang language and "tagging" to help determine whether there was gang activity involved in the vandalism.

2. Record the details of the crime. Where is the vandalism on the building? What is the address or cross streets of the vandalized building? Did you notice anyone in the area that looked suspicious? Write down the words and describe the detail in the pictures of the grafitti for a report to go with your photos.

3. Visit the police station and give them the information you gathered, the photographs you took and fill out a police report.

4. Follow up on it. If you are called with additional questions, answer them honestly and in a timely manner. Time is off the essence in a property crime or gang situation.

5. Offer to paint over it or contact a group that paints over vandalism and graffiti once the police department gives you clearance to do so. There are groups being established in larger cities or cities with vandalism or graffiti problems to handle this kind of work. The faster the neighborhood gets rid of the problem, the more of a statement of unacceptability it sends.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to report the vandalism to the correct law enforcement agency or it will take longer to get a reaction.

• Sometimes a reward is offered in cities where vandalism or gang activity is an ongoing problem.