Are Council graffiti strategies working?

My compadre has pointed me at this fascinating report by the Department of Justice on the results of some Council anti-graffiti demonstration projects that were carried out in 2007-2008.

How typical of government that a report on projects that appear to have wrapped up in 2008 is finally released almost at the end of 2009!

It's fascinating because in all of its 29 pages, I am unable to find any conclusions as to what works and what doesn't. I was expecting to find a precise at the front which would summarise the outcomes of the demonstration projects, but that was not to be.

After wading through the report, my conclusion is that rapid removal of graffiti generally works, particularly if undertaken in conjunction with design changes that harden the target.

There. 29 pages condensed into two lines.

The challenge of course is putting those two things into action - rapid removal and target hardening. That requires a lot of basic grunt work on the ground, rather than sitting around in air conditioned offices writing reports.