Community wardens in the Limburg town of Genk have been given training to better understand the messages contained in tags and stickers that adorn lampposts, benches and other street furniture. The idea behind the training is to equip them to identify extremist content and have messages that encourage violence removed quickly.
Genk community wardens learn to understand street messages: “This can help identity extremists’ tags”
Published:
Community wardens in Genk are now able to better understand the content of stickers and tags left behind on lampposts, benches, bins and electricity distribution cabins. If the messages contained in them include extremist content the wardens will inform the relevant city council department and the sicker(s) and/or graffiti will be removed forthwith.
The Mayor of Genk Wim Dries (Christian democrat) told VRT News that “We organise graffiti projects to support street art ourselves, but sometimes we come across extremist messages”.
“All coppers are bastards”
A tag on an electricity distribution cabin in the Bret area of Genk reads 1312 “This numbers refers to letters in the alphabet, so it is ACAB or "All copper are bastards”, Mr Dries explains. “We don’t like to see this kind of message, because it is a call to take action”.
“But we also want to pick up on and act when people express concerns about an issue, for example the Palestinian question”.
The city authorities also wish to chart what issues are of interest to people in a given area of the city. “Community wardens can ask around to find out why a particular sticker has been stuck in a particular place. This enables us to find out what are the issues in a particular area and why they are issues there.”