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Protecting Cemeteries from Vandalism

Protecting Cemeteries from Vandalism

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Protecting cemeteries from vandalism is difficult. For some people, visiting and disturbing the cemeteries is considered a non-violent prank for ghostly fun.  Although it is not.  Cemeteries are the resting place for people who are loved, respected, and honored.  It is horrifying to visit the resting place of a loved one only to find out the gravestone was knocked over and suffered graffiti.  The indignation boils over to want justification.

Unfortunately, protecting cemeteries from vandalism particularly in the month of October is especially difficult because cemeteries are notoriously vandalized during the month of October, due to Halloween. Many cemeteries brace for this holiday that can bring destruction.  Extra precautions to protect the resting place from vandalism, graffiti, and malicious acts are necessary.

In addition to malicious pranks, cemeteries sadly are the target of hatred.  Criminal behaviors leave damage targeting the grave site because of someone’s religion, skin color, gender identity, or political identity.  Regardless of the reason, cemeteries should never be the object of vandalism and should be protected for all future generations.

To protect cemeteries, a Cemetery Protection Plan must be implemented.

Although protection can come in many forms.  An effective plan will contact the following:

  • Educating the next generations to respect and honor grave sites as a place of reverence
  • Creating laws with stiff fines and penalties such as restitution
  • Heavier penalties for historic grave sites
  • If possible, control the access to the cemetery with fences
  • Install Vandalism Cemetery Cameras, designed specifically to deter vandalism in cemeteries

 

Protect Parks from Vandalism

Protect Parks from Vandalism

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There are many reasons to protect our parks from vandalism.  One very important reason is the health of our children. Obesity is one of the major leading causes of death in the United States. And even if obesity doesn’t lead directly to death, being overweight has multiple and very serious long-term consequences, among them are: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes and more. Genetics plays a role in obesity, but lifestyle is usually the more contributing factor.

Did you know that children in Massachusetts have gained an average of 10lbs since the coronavirus outbreak? Since the schools, sports, park activities and other group physical activities were cancelled in March of 2020, the United States’ children are paying the toll. Children of the East Coast alone have gained an average of 7lbs. Instead of playing outside, children have fallen back on technology for entertainment. This goes to show us how important parks are.

Parks are essential for the health of children. Where adults rely on a scheduled exercise regimen for fitness, children simply rely on having fun. Children likely burn more calories playing hide-and-seek at a playground after school than adults do in a workout class. Unfortunately, graffiti and vandalism have increased at the parks during Covid.  That means, now that Covid no longer prevents playing at the parks, the graffiti and vandalism will keep the parks off limits.

When playgrounds are destroyed by vandalism, they become unusable to children, and children are at a higher risk of obesity. If for no other reason, cities must protect their parks from vandalism so that children can remain safe and healthy. Cities can stop vandalism before it happens by investing in Park Vandalism Cameras, that are specially designed to deter vandalism and graffiti in parks. When vandalism and graffiti are prevented, parks can be preserved, and children can enjoy playing at the park and maintaining their physical health.

Protect our children, protect our parks!

#stopvandalism #novandalism #protectparks

Protecting Skate Parks and Splash Pads

Protecting Skate Parks and Splash Pads

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A skate park and a splash park are great assets to the community and should be protected from vandalism and graffiti.

The community skate park and splash pad add a lot of entertainment and outdoor exercise for both youth and adults.  Outdoor exercise is known to decrease the probability of illness and depression. What better opportunity for outdoor exercise than a skate park or a splash pad?  It is exercise in the disguise of play and socialization.

The time, energy, and cost in creating a skate park and splash pad can be daunting, but it is well worth the effort.  According to the Tony Hawk Foundation, the average cost to build a skate park runs between $200,000- $400,000, with an additional cost to maintain.  According to Chelan County, the estimated cost to create a splash pad is between $800,000-$2,000,000, also with an additional cost to maintain.

With investing so much into a park, it is essential to protect it.

Unfortunately, both skate parks and splash pads are frequently targeted with graffiti and vandalism. This crime is ghastly as it affects the entire community.  Additional unfortunate details are graffiti and vandalism bring down the property values and usher in more devastating crime into the community, such as drugs and violence.  Graffiti and vandalism bring down the entire community’s quality-of-life.

Therefore, it is important to protect your parks from vandalism and graffiti, these quality-of-life offenders. It is also imperative you protect your dollar asset and the hard work that went into building those awesome parks the community loves.

How to protect your park’s assets:

  • Maintain adequate lighting at night
  • Post operating hours
  • Enclose the park with fencing
  • Install Park Vandalism Cameras– designed specifically to stop quality-of-life crimes

Traditional video cameras do not stop quality-of-life crimes.

What is your city doing to protect your great park achievements?

 

Vandalism Lowers Property Values

Community

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A study has been done which demonstrates that where crime rates go up, property prices go down. When property prices go down, the economic livelihood of a community suffers. All kinds of crime contribute to this housing value avalanche, even crimes which at first glance may seem harmless, such as vandalism. However, vandalism is actually the crime which most negatively effects the economic values of homes in an area.

The reason behind this reality is that crimes do not occur in a vacuum, isolated from each other. The repeated occurrences of crime in one area foster an atmosphere of lawlessness which emboldens would-be criminals to actualize their illegal intentions. After a certain number of crimes occur in a single area, the atmosphere gives birth to a crime hot spot.

Crime hot spots cause a significant decrease in housing prices in the immediate area, even more so than the average crime rate of the whole town. And the worst kind of hot spot is a vandalism hot spot. The logic is such: vandalism affects the appearance of an area long term, allowing everyone to witness the continual aftermath of a crime. House buyers read the anarchy and vulgarities of vandalism as a sign that no authority is in control of the area, that the neighborhood is in decline, and so they avoid these areas if they can.

Research suggests that physically observable crimes more effectively induce fear in the community than non-observable crimes. Thus, the strongest correlation between levels of different kinds of crime that can be found is between the presence of vandalism hot spots in a community and violence, care theft, and house burglary.

The best way to combat vandalism and defend the economic livelihood of a community is to utilize crime deterrent cameras. Most vandalism is extremely expensive to erase and repair and occurs at times when there is little chance of the perps being caught in the act. Therefore, by strategically placing crime deterrent cameras, would-be vandals will be halted before they have a chance to commit the rapid, yet costly crime. Preventing vandalism benefits communities immensely, by removing this catalyst crime.