It is common that when people envision vandalism, it’s often portrayed as just graffiti. However, vandalism can take place in many other forms including property damage, arson, destruction of public amenities, defacement, etc.
Unfortunately, in St. Louis vandalism has been a detrimental and recurring issue, threatening the safety of the community as a whole every day. Statistics have shown St. Louis ranked extremely high in violent crimes stats, so it is not a surprise that vandalism is so frequent.
The negative effects of vandalism such as money and dangers to the community are damaging the city every day. Vandalism is just one of the many dangers going on in the streets of St. Louis, especially downtown. Overall, many forms of vandalism are visible throughout St. Louis.
Is Vandalism a Crime?
Depending on the context, there is actually some controversy debating whether or not a way of vandalism such as graffiti is to be considered a crime. By legal definition, vandalism is deliberate destruction or damage to property. However, when gathering the opinions of LHS students I have retrieved a few different perspectives.
“When you go downtown, spray paint graffiti shows creativity and its artistic,” Avery Queen (11) said.
However, some people are swayed otherwise on the matters of graffiti.
“Graffiti is a crime that is bad for the environment, and it shows a lack of character,” Kate Waddington (11) said.
When you change your point of view, both arguments are proved valid when thinking about intent vs. impact.
Other ways of vandalism including property damage, defacement, destruction of public amenities, and arson are not even arguable crimes.
In St. Louis, these types of crimes are pretty consistent and almost considered normal. For example, at the Pentecostal Church of God off of West Florissant Avenue the church’s surveillance caught three teenagers breaking into church members’ cars. There are even crazy types of vandalism. Like how this month, the Pine Lawn family reported arson through a voodoo doll. Vandalism is not really considered as a serious crime, unless the property damage costs a lot of money. However, these types of vandalism in St. Louis are still crimes and should be treated accordingly.
Vandalism Rates in STL
St. Louis is known for its high crime rate in its neighborhoods, varying from each area. It can make neighborhoods look uncared for and miserable. However, vandalism is just one of the many criminal activities happening in STL, while it protests the safety of many residents on a daily basis.
According to crime.grade.org, the rate of vandalism in the St. Louis area is 6.372 per 1,000 residents during a standard year. Depending on the area, vandalism rates can be high or low. This is not only destroying the environment, but it can also cost a lot of money to repair. The pollution, waste, and resource consumption from vandalism have damaged natural habitats. The average cost of repairing vandalism-related damage is $3,370 per incident. Vandalism is disfiguring the city more and more each time, and costing the government extra money and time to fix.
While vandalism is a repeated issue, there are ways to combat it. Some of the many ways to combat vandalism include community clean-up programs, educating the youth about the effects of vandalism, increased police patrol/surveillance, and community art projects. Additionally, the legal consequences of vandalism can even be more strict if needed. These alternatives can help to reduce vandalism and overall improve the community of St. Louis´s well being.
To sum things up, urban areas like St. Louis’ express many different types of vandalism. It is a significant issue that affects many factors of the city negatively. While vandalism will always be a constant challenge, the community and law enforcement of St. Louis can help to reduce the impact of these dangers by making an effort to keep the city clean, and stay out of trouble.
