Coppers Graffiti - Time you arrest yourself?
Updated: Oct 30
In Victoria, marking graffiti on property visible to the public is an offence unless authorized by the owner, with severe penalties for creating or intending to create graffiti. Yet, Victorian Police adorn publicly owned vehicles with various markings and patrol the streets, without public consent for their self-promotional slogans.
While I concur that police officers are underpaid for their challenging roles and the daily trauma they face, it's noteworthy that unlike nurses and paramedics, police officers do not require a four-year university degree for their positions. They can enter a reasonably well-paid profession straight after high school, following a fitness test, without the need for a high academic score.
This disparity in educational requirements might lead some officers to mistakenly believe that control over a public vehicle equates to ownership, exempting them from graffiti regulations. To clarify such misconception, because you drive a vehicle, doesn't make you the owner. Similar to a tenant in a rental property, there are no allowances for tenants to graffiti the walls of their houses, Cops don't have legal rights to graffiti their vehicles. They render them unpleasant to look at, and make a political statement where there shouldn't be one.
If I wanted a pay rise and decided to scribble shit all over my work computer, desk and office walls I would be sacked on the spot. Why is such illegal behaviour from our police force not being stopped by the senior coppers? Surely, they understand that the vehicles being graffitied are public property and not possessions of the officers with Posca Pens.
I'd love to try and graffiti my own messages on police cars. I can think of a bunch of different slogans that would be much more comical and enjoyable for everyday Australians to read. Unfortunately, I would be arrested and charged. No surprise that such a double standard is exactly why everyone hates cops in this country. They don't do themselves any favours when they obviously break the law when it suits themselves, then claim to be all righteous when pulling you up for being 5kms over the speed limit.
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