Council rules graffiti "not offensive enough" to remove, What is and what isnt "too offensive"? Options

[Mark NWN]

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=13634

WEST Berkshire Council left a piece of graffiti depicting male genitalia up for three months after officers deemed it not offensive enough to remove.
After making several pleas to the district council to clean up a defaced bus shelter on School Hill, in Chaddleworth, which had been daubed with vulgar artwork in March, Chaddleworth Parish Council this week received a written response from the district council which said: “Unfortunately, as it is not classed as 'offensive' it does not take priority and is removed by the Probation Service as and when they carry out work in the area.
“They have a significant amount of non offensive graffiti to remove in the district and it was unfortunate that they did not get out to your village to remove the small amount you have on the last couple of occasions they have worked in West Berkshire.”
The district council finally relented after repeated requests from the parish council, and sent a private contractor to paint over the scene yesterday (Wednesday) morning.
Spokesman for West Berkshire Council Keith Ulyatt said: “There is no sliding scale of what is deemed offensive and what is not, but something that is racially offensive or sexually offensive does get prioritised and removed immediately.
“The incident in question was not seen as offensive at the time and was not prioritised.”

What do you make of this?

Pictures fine but words not allowed?

Where do you draw the line (excuse the pun)?

[Exhausted]

GMR, what is it with you. You have this ability to go totally over the top when replying to posts, reading stuff into them then coming back like a hysterical girl. If you want the police to go graffiti hunting and spend resources on that then fine but do you not concede that in the scheme of things it is close to the bottom of the scale.

[dannyboy]

GMR, what is it with you. You have this ability to go totally over the top when replying to posts, reading stuff into them then coming back like a hysterical girl. If you want the police to go graffiti hunting and spend resources on that then fine but do you not concede that in the scheme of things it is close to the bottom of the scale.

GMR wants to live in a Police state.


We 'know' who did it - nuff said!

[Biker1]

GMR wants to live in a Police state.


We 'know' who did it - nuff said!

Perhaps we should give "Zero Tolerance" a try.

It worked in the USA.

(Or is that what you call a "Police State"?)

Graffiti is a scourge and should be treated as such.

[dannyboy]

Perhaps we should give "Zero Tolerance" a try.

It worked in the USA.

(Or is that what you call a "Police State"?)

Graffiti is a scourge and should be treated as such.

Yes it is what I would call a Police State. Have you ever watched an episode of 'World's Wildest Police Chases'?

[GMR]

Yes it is what I would call a Police State. Have you ever watched an episode of 'World's Wildest Police Chases'?

No it isn’t what you call a police state. A police state is as JeffG quoted. It is called upholding the law, otherwise what is the point of making the law in the first place if you then dismiss it as irrelevant.

[dannyboy]

No it isn’t what you call a police state. A police state is as JeffG quoted. It is called upholding the law, otherwise what is the point of making the law in the first place if you then dismiss it as irrelevant.

to quote Judge Dredd - 'I Am The Law'

[GMR]

to quote Judge Dredd - 'I Am The Law'

Judge Dredd is fictional so it doesn't really matter what he is or isn't.

[dannyboy]

Judge Dredd is fictional so it doesn't really matter what he is or isn't.

You don't say. A satirical one.

[GMR]

You don't say. A satirical one.

Yes, a satirical one... but not, alas, a real one.

[dannyboy]

Yes, a satirical one... but not, alas, a real one.

twice you've said this now.
but at least you understand the idea behind Dredd now. So did Rodney King.

[GMR]

twice you've said this now.
but at least you understand the idea behind Dredd now. So did Rodney King.

I only said it twice, as you said what you said twice... so I thought I’d help the hard of seeing out. I presume you are Rodney, while I am Dredd... which sounds, or should sound, about right.

[dannyboy]

I only said it twice, as you said what you said twice... so I thought I’d help the hard of seeing out. I presume you are Rodney, while I am Dredd... which sounds, or should sound, about right.

Why do I get the feeling that you'd quite like to be dishing out your own personal brand of 'justice'?

[GMR]

Why do I get the feeling that you'd quite like to be dishing out your own personal brand of 'justice'?

Well, your feelings are wrong. I have no wish to get myself put in jail. There should be only one sort of justice; the law and courts. Sadly that isn't always the case.

[dannyboy]

Well, your feelings are wrong. I have no wish to get myself put in jail. There should be only one sort of justice; the law and courts. Sadly that isn't always the case.

err, you are the one who said you were Dredd. Did you ever read 2000AD?

[GMR]

err, you are the one who said you were Dredd. Did you ever read 2000AD?

No I wasn’t the one who said I was Dredd. I was being ironic when I said “I presume you are Rodney, while I am Dredd...” In other words I was presuming you read it that way, or was saying something like that. You should read back to what I was answering to. As for have I ever read the comic; yes, and seen the film.

[dannyboy]

No I wasn’t the one who said I was Dredd. I was being ironic when I said “I presume you are Rodney, while I am Dredd...” In other words I was presuming you read it that way, or was saying something like that. You should read back to what I was answering to. As for have I ever read the comic; yes, and seen the film.

Hmmm, the film. Less said about that the better.

I wasn’t the one who said I was Dredd when I said.... I am Dredd

I said that Rodney King would understand when I was equating American policemen to Judge Dredd.

You only need to spend a few mins on Liveleak to see no end of American Coppers acting out their own Dreddesque fantasies.

[GMR]

Hmmm, the film. Less said about that the better.

I wasn't the one who said I was Dredd when I said.... I am Dredd

I said that Rodney King would understand when I was equating American policemen to Judge Dredd.

You only need to spend a few mins on Liveleak to see no end of American Coppers acting out their own Dreddesque fantasies.

I am sure we’ve had a few over here over the years. They didn’t much good though, did they?

[dannyboy]

I am sure we’ve had a few over here over the years. They didn’t much good though, did they?

In America thay have shot quite a few petty criminals. And a dog.

[GMR]

In America thay have shot quite a few petty criminals. And a dog.

Who was she?

In America there is a moral to that; if you don't want to get shot, no matter how petty, don't do the crime. In Britain we have a different approach; if you want to do the crime you've got Human Rights legislation, apathy, a hands off approach to make your job easier. If the victim should step in and defend himself we'll prosecute them on your behalf. Far better approach I would think; it sends out a clear and precise message. We are the land of fools.