[mobglob-discuss] (en) Canada, Calgary, Media: G8 graffiti busted, (fwd)

[Tom_Childs at Douglas.BC.CA]

       ~~~ Terrorism comes to Calgary, Alberta~~~
  "...political missives so potent they must be snuffed within
hours of discovery."  Hopefully indymedia will be able to put 
up a "snuff film" of the 'graffiti busters' at work scrubbing
sidewalks.    -tc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    
  ----- Forwarded message: -----
Subject: (en) Canada, Calgary, Media:  G8 graffiti busted, 
From: Lysander Zimmerman <LAMZ at sympatico.ca>
To: a-infos <a-infos-en at ainfos.ca>
Sender: worker-a-infos-en at ainfos.ca
Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 00:18:29 -0400 (EDT)

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Globe and Mail, May 12

Canadian Press

Calgary, Alta. - The messages, scrawled on sidewalks or spray-painted on
walls, are short and simple: "No G8." But for Calgary's graffiti busters,
one cop and dozens of volunteers, they are political missives so potent they
must be snuffed within hours of discovery.

Constable Marcel Dubois, the Calgary Police Service's graffiti specialist,
leads the efforts to spot anti-G8 graffiti, analyze it for clues to sources,
and then remove it.

"What we are trying to do is identify the persons who are ultimately
responsible and if indeed they are attached to a particular group of
protesters that Calgary police and RCMP need to concern themselves with,"
Constable Dubois says.

He and the Graffiti Response Information Team (GRIT) are chasing down
anti-G8 markings on buildings, sidewalks and billboards throughout Calgary.
So far, they've tracked down, recorded and removed 19.

According to Barry Davidson, who heads the volunteer group GRIT, police have
yet to charge an anti-G8 graffitist with mischief. "We are trying to track
down enough information to go after some people," said Mr. Davidson, a
former Calgary police officer.

The first piece of graffiti was spotted just one day after last July's
announcement that leaders of the Group of Eight highly industrialized
countries would hold their next meeting in Canada. The most recent was found
last week when someone wrote G8 with an X over it on a Global Petroleum Show
billboard. The message also included a large black dot.

"The significance of the black dot, I haven't been able to ascertain at the
present time," Constable Dubois said. "It is appearing on other outdoor
advertising as well. The investigation is continuing on that one."

Unlike most urban graffiti, these anti-G8 slogans are neither artistic nor
sophisticated. The most complicated one so far was found last November on a
long banner hung from a bridge over Calgary's busiest freeway, Deerfoot
Trail. It read "G8 Not Gr8".

GRIT volunteers are concerned Calgarians, many of them prison guards, who
help police year-round with reporting, recording and removing all kinds of
graffiti. When a culprit is caught and charged, the prosecutor asks the
court to assess cleanup costs as part of the fine.

Constable Dubois and Mr. Davidson say it's important to paint over or
sandblast such vandalism soon after it's discovered because members of the
graffiti subculture are proud, even obsessed, with their work.

"It's a badge of honour to put a piece of graffiti up and have people drive
by and wonder, 'How did they do that without getting caught?'" Mr. Davidson
said. "The higher they can put it, the more visible they can make it, the
bigger the score it is for them."

Mr. Davidson has handpicked 12 volunteers from 35 GRIT members to work a
rigorous schedule starting one week before the G8 meeting begins. They plan
to work with police from an undisclosed downtown office, with some shifts
starting around 3 a.m.


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