OPINION: Respect and responsibility - it works

And we know that, with regard to much of the low-level nuisance that really does disturb and irritate those who are affected by it, the probability of identifying the perpetrators is very remote indeed.

But my story relates to one young man who was detected. He was a spray can wizard, tagging everything that he could - park benches, shop windows, telephone boxes. He had been a thorn in the side of the local police for some years, and one police officer in particular. One day he was caught in the act and arrested.

Some of his mates legged it down to the youth centre to tell me that Mike (the PC concerned) had nicked him. I thought about what to do as I ran up the road towards the police car. I tapped on the driver's window, having worked out my approach. Mike wound the window down, with a look of considerable satisfaction on his face. Dan, the lad concerned, sat sheepishly in the back. I played my hand. Dan looked mortified when I told Mike what his tag was. Mike looked at me with glee: more tags, more evidence. The police officer asked me to sit in the car while he went and searched for more of Dan's tags. Dan asked me what the hell I had told him for. I said that I had a deal in mind.