Colin Saysell - Graffiti Sessions

Colin Saysell's contribution on December 3rd 2014 at Graffiti Sessions (Southbank Centre). Detective Constable Colin Saysell joined the Police service in 1987. He was initially stationed in Bristol. It was as a uniformed constable in Bristol in March 1989, that Colin first came into contact with graffiti. In 1991, Colin joined the CID again based in Bristol. Over the next 9 years, Colin served on various specialist details including the investigation of stolen vehicles, stolen cheques & payment cards and in the intelligence department. In 2001, Colin returned to investigating graffiti and by 2003 it was his full time job. To date Colin, has dealt with over 300 graffiti offenders from all over the UK and indeed the world. He is registered as a graffiti expert with the National College of Policing and is recognised as such up to and including the Appeal Courts. His particular sphere of expertise is 'graffiti tourism'. The Graffiti Sessions was set up to identify new horizons for future city strategies on graffiti and street arts and opportunities and challenges for evolving creative practice, towards places that are both safe and sociable. The event comprised a three-day series of talks, workshops and panel debates exploring the evolving roles of graffiti and street art in the urban environment and gathered a wide group of experts to debate issues surrounding graffiti. The ambition is to challenge deep-rooted preconceptions and speculation that have until now limited the progress of both policy and practice related to street art and graffiti. Bringing together key institutions and individuals, the project initiated an open and sustainable discussion forum for the exchange of a broad scope of viewpoints and positions on street art and graffiti, and for the evaluation of their impacts on the quality of life for urban communities. Graffiti Sessions was hosted by UCL Urban Lab, the Graffiti Dialogues Network at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) and Southbank Centre.