What Are the Effects of Vandalism?

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The Fareham Borough Council states that one of the major effects of vandalism is that it makes people feel less safe. It is potentially dangerous, and people have died due to uncontrolled vandalism.

The Fareham Borough Council explains that vandalism costs money. A significant effect it has on properties is the cost of repair through insurance payments and higher taxes. Vandalism affects people’s quality of life, as it damages and destroys things that people care for or need.

According to FindLaw, some of the effects of vandalism include graffiti, damage to vehicles, broken windows and damage or destruction of websites. The results of vandalism are often evident on building structures, street signs, billboards, tunnels, bus stops, cemeteries and numerous other public spaces. FindLaw emphasizes that while graffiti is considered by some people to be an art form, vandalism is a crime against property and punishable by monetary fines and jail time.

The Fareham Borough Council defines vandalism as any act of deliberate damage to another person’s property. It includes painting graffiti, setting small fires, dumping rubbish, damaging structures, scratching car paint and smashing windows.

FindLaw elaborates that vandalism includes any willful behavior that aims to destroy, alter or deface somebody else’s property. Slashing a vehicle’s tires, egging vehicles or buildings, defacing park benches and kicking somebody’s property are other acts of vandalism.