White Rock’s namesake was marred with graffiti described as having a “strong anti-police sentiment.”
Spray-painted in blue, the scrawl – tainting the white rock’s north side since at least Saturday (July 18) – included the acronym ‘ACAB,’ as well as male genitalia and what police described as a “cross-like symbol.”
White Rock RCMP Const. Chantal Sears confirmed police were notified of the “not very nice” messages – ACAB is known most recently to stand for ‘All Cops Are B*** – on Monday evening.
“There was a file documented on it and a request was sent to the city (the following day) to clean it,” Sears told Peace Arch News.
City communications manager Donna Kell confirmed Wednesday that the city was notified of the graffiti Tuesday morning.
While it could still be seen on the rock early Wednesday morning, by 11 a.m. – less than two hours after PAN contacted the city about it – Kell confirmed it had been removed.
Sears said she was not aware of any similar graffiti in the city.
One man who spoke to PAN about it – but asked to be identified publicly only as Shawn P. – said he saw the “cross-like symbol” as an attempt at a swastika. He described the graffiti in a private Facebook post as inaccurate and discriminatory.
“I want the police to be better and to be held accountable for things they do wrong, but as society we cannot turn on ‘them,’” he wrote in the July 21 post. “If as society ‘we’ expect to be treated fairly and on our own merits then ‘we’ should give ‘them’ the same treatment.”
He was also concerned with how long the graffiti remained on the rock.
“I think these overt messages that nobody does anything about is not necessarily good for the community either, because it causes more friction and more problems, and doesn’t help support the police to do their job better either.
“Let’s all work together and make community better.”
tholmes@peacearchnews.com
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