Proud Industrial has provided graffiti and fly poster control solutions since 1991 to Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Property Management Companies and has grown to become a market leader in London and the South East.

We have developed several successful initiatives by coordinating with all parts of the Local Authority to maximise the results from the financial and personnel resources available.

Education

Education is vital to effective graffiti and fly poster prevention and should be part of the schools as well as the community.

For schools, Proud Industrial has put together a lesson plan, as part of the National Curriculum, to help teachers increase the awareness of graffiti vandalism within the community around the school.

For the community, Proud Industrial helps to provide victim assistance by not only removing the graffiti but also advising on the best ways to prevent it happening again, whether on an individual basis or community wide.
Along with the Council, Proud Industrial have developed information leaflets for residents explaining the Council's policy on graffiti and fly posting, how to report it, what to expect from the Council, how to prevent it and how everyone can do their part to help.

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Environmental

In many areas Proud Industrial have been involved in a Community Clean up or Deep Clean, which is needed to concentrate the resources and effectively regenerate the area. All the issues are tackled at once such as broken or missing rubbish bins and other street furniture, disused premises, overgrown vegetation, graffiti, fly posters, detritus, road and pavement repairs, etc and this all needs to be coordinated effectively. Once the area has been cleaned up, it is easier to keep on top of it especially when local residents have been fully involved.

Proud Industrial provides monthly performance reports that detail the amount of graffiti and fly posters removed split into various categories and within what time scales For example, that of an offensive or racist nature, what has been cleared from each ward, any particular hot spots, proactive or reactive removal, etc. The performance reports identify what percentage of work was completed on time, any failures to meet the targeted removal date and the reasons why. This allows the service to be monitored successfully and any changes made to improve it. The monthly reports also include budgetary information giving details of the amount spent in that month and to date from the beginning of the financial year.

Housing

There can be little doubt that the upset graffiti can cause is at its worse when it is right outside the door to your home. It is unfortunate that communal areas within housing blocks provide many hidden areas for vandals to gather and the damage caused can be severe. Anti-graffiti coatings can be used to aid the removal of graffiti but great care needs to be taken to ensure that the correct cleaning methods are used to ensure a long coating life. Proud Industrial also provides a re-decoration service where required.

Proud Industrial provide a full graffiti removal service or can be called on by caretaking staff when the problems become severe. Contract customers also have options for 24-hour and 2 hour response to offensive and racist graffiti.

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Legal

Fly posting is illegal and is driven by commercial forces, which means that someone will benefit from every fly poster as an advertising medium; while daubing graffiti is criminal damage. It is too expensive for an individual to prosecute an offender and too dangerous to attempt to catch them. Councils can pool the resources of various services to help secure successful prosecutions.

Proud Industrial has been involved into securing successful prosecution for graffiti and fly posting. We have supplied the before and after photographs, written statements to confirm that we removed the graffiti or fly posters and at what cost. Proud industrial can also send out legal letters to the beneficiaries of fly posters and work with the Probation Service as part of the community service programme.

Graffiti is one of the few crimes where the punishment can fit the crime. Convicted taggers are often supervised cleaning graffiti as part of their community service or sentence. It is important that this fully planned with several appropriate locations identified for cleaning. Proud Industrial can help identify the most suitable locations and work with the Probation Service to ensure the smooth running of these programmes.

There is a national database of tags that is run by British Transport Police, but almost all Councils have their own database of tags and fly posters that they can draw on for prosecution purposes. Proud Industrial manages its own database dating back to 1998 and a number of customers specific databases.

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Parks and Play Areas

Parks and play areas are probably the most widely used and appreciated facility provided by a Local Authority. It is a sad fact, however, that they can become a prime target to the graffiti vandal.

Play park apparatus is becoming ever more inventive and a wide range of materials used in their construction. Together with the impact absorbing surfaces, whether tiled or wet pour system, they require specialist knowledge when dealing with the removal of graffiti. Proud Industrial has many years experience in the removal of graffiti from these sensitive surfaces.

Planning

Part of the planning policy is to grant planning permission only for hoardings that are slatted and not those that are flat, to prevent fly posters being stuck to them. Proud Industrial can remove any fly posters and fit this battening retrospectively.

By identifying the hot spots for graffiti, fly posters and stickers, any new street furniture that is susceptible to attack can be coated prior to installation.

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Police

In certain areas CCTV combined with good lighting will help to prevent anti social behaviour and can be used in evidence during prosecutions.

Regular surveillance on foot is more effective and often will get the message across directly to the offenders and result in prosecution of the more persistent offenders.

For the more adventurous taggers CCTV may add to the sense of challenge. This is generally only until the novelty of the CCTV has worn off.

Proud Industrial provide monthly crime reporting statistics with the locations of the graffiti and fly posters removed. When these are mapped with other crime locations an effective Policing picture is built up.

Publicity

Publicity needs to address the concerns of the victims of graffiti and fly posting as well as the offenders. The service offered to residents including advice on the prevention of future attacks should be publicised along with the Council's initiatives aimed at reducing graffiti and fly posters in particularly bad areas.

When perpetrators are arrested and successfully prosecuted, the details of the offences should be publicised as a deterrent to others.

There are new Council performance indicators for graffiti and fly posters and ENCAMS regularly inspect and grade all Councils in the country.

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Street Level

When Proud Industrial removes the graffiti and fly posters, historical data is recorded for each location, which is used over time to identify those most susceptible to repeated attack. Once identified these locations are targeted for effective preventative measures.

Proud Industrial is able to clear graffiti and fly posters from red routes, busy areas and inaccessible locations by working outside busy hours with specially designed access equipment.

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