A prolific graffiti tagger was given front-page treatment by a newspaper six weeks ago but although the headline suggested he was sorry, the story painted a different picture.
The tagger was John McMillan, 46, who tags as Crew, Crew Connection and Johnny Crew. His Crew tags have blighted Brighton from Queen’s Park and Kemp Town to North Laine and elsewhere, without regard to businesses, iconic public buildings, private houses or street furniture.
It’s all in the name of his “guerrillaadvertising” hashtag and his video blog. His “vlog” largely comprises 30-second videos of self-indulgent musings.
It is roughly estimated that his one-man crusade to put the name Johnny Crew “out there” has caused damage to public and private property costing thousands of pounds – damage that businesses, council tax payers and the public purse will have to rectify.
Yet the newspaper article presented Crew as a bit of a do-gooder hero, something he delighted in on his latest blog.
“Spring is in the air,” mused Johnny. “Goals and aspirations, you know what I mean? I got an interview with the Argus group recently, the Argus in Brighton. It was good, I think they done me alright.”
Other than his spray-can vandalism, which is indefensible, I have nothing against McMillan. His short bursts of “selfie” phone camera video give the impression of an affable, albeit troubled, individual who craves engagement with the world around him.
His videos can seem self-absorbed and at times narcissistic. At other times he mimics a TV news approach as he encounters police incidents or other street-life situations.
Looking at his Crew Connection TV YouTube channel, a film shot four years ago reveals a very different persona. McMillan reflects on his addiction to prescription drugs and his bumpy road to recovery. Here, his desire to connect with others who have battled addiction and depression seems completely genuine.
Lately, he has begun 30 to 40-minute-long live-streaming commentaries via Facebook. The Argus article said: “As part of his ‘coaching’ of the people he meets, he encourages others not to ‘have neglect spread into your life’ and to ‘sort yourself out’.”
According to the Argus, McMillan said that he was unapologetic because his tags had encouraged “about 300 people” to reach out to him and talk openly about mental health.
If McMillan really said this, he was surely joking with the reporter? It’s delusional to imagine that on sight of a “Crew” or “Google Johnny Crew” tag, people make contact to request his life coaching services.
McMillan claimed to have recently been confronted by a council enforcement officer, as quoted: “I received a call from a council officer a few weeks ago.”
He said the officer discussed the possibility of an “unofficial community service order” which would see him go around the city, filming himself removing some of his tags and posting it online on his various social media channels.
However, he said: “I told the guy from the council my story and he said he wasn’t going to take it any further and that he would get back to me.”
Doubtless, there’s a powerful human story to tell about John McMillan. The Argus reporter evidently wanted to acknowledge that.
My issue with extending sympathy and understanding in this instance is the tacit acceptance of his vandalism. There are, after all, few examples of petty criminality and anti-social behaviour that don’t invoke a backstory of this sort.
Despite the Argus saying that McMillan ceased his tagging a year ago – itself nonsense, given his winter tagging spree – even in the weeks since this article appeared, fresh Crew tags have also appeared.
The Crew tagging spree continues with impunity. Residents and businesses have become increasingly frustrated at the indifference of the council and police enforcement officers whose appalling failure to prosecute an identifiable, self-confessed vandal has caused us thousands of pounds worth of damage. It is unfathomable.
And yet, the same council team has the audacity to issue shop owners with letters threatening fines if they don’t remove graffiti. These are the shop owners who diligently remove tagging only to find it reappearing a few days later.
As reported in Sussex Live and national media, one letter to a shopkeeper from the council said: “Your conduct is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those living in the locality and your conduct is unreasonable.”
“Your” conduct!?! How can a council whose environmental enforcement officers are taking zero action against a known vandal issue threats to innocent businesses – the victims of crime – for not removing the acts of crime within 28 days? It simply makes no sense.
Both the police and council enforcement teams knew about McMillan – as far back as September 2022 – but took absolutely no action.
In the case of the council enforcement team, an officer had hard proof and complaints from several residents about the Crew tags and his bragging on social media.
The council team, paid to follow up on evidence provided, were sent dozens of photos and video evidence, social media proof and so forth, delivered to them, gift-wrapped.
However, it has transpired that the environmental enforcement team were absent from duty, off on extended sick leave, phones deactivated, emails neither monitored nor diverted, tasks not covered – for weeks on end. All the “unpaid” work of council tax paying residents went into an abyss.
Likewise, the 101 police reporting service results only in data gathering and an issue of a crime reference number swiftly followed by a “no further action” letter. We all pay for that too.
So as law-abiding residents and businesses, we are all paying for vandalism to be tackled through council tax and for enforcement officers’ salaries despite the fact that they are not even at work or not undertaking any follow up on evidence painstakingly provided.
Good citizens putting their own time into goodwill acts – gathering evidence and painting out tags in order to be supportive of an under-resourced service – are being utterly disrespected.
But for the combined actions of BRAT, a new anti-tagging group, in co-operation with myself and Councillor Bridget Fishleigh, of Brighton and Hove Independents, Johnny “Crew” McMillan would be carrying on his tagging without a care in the world (while enforcement officers carry on doing nothing in similar vein).
BRAT stands for Business and Residents Against Tagging. To find out more, visit www.brat.org.uk.
These are the hallmarks of a city sliding into an ever-expanding pit of “no one cares” which will then breed more of the same – and more anti-social behaviour and more crime.
The connection between ever-more anti-social behaviour in environments plagued by litter and graffiti has been demonstrated by research. Summarised in the New Scientist, the research concluded: “One type of anti-social behaviour leads to others, because people’s sense of social obligation to others is eroded.”
The results support “broken windows theory”. The New Scientist quotes Geraldine Pettersson, who co-authored a 2003 report on graffiti: “People associate the presence of graffiti with a lack of social control and management of their neighbourhood or environment and it relays the message that no one is ‘in charge’.”
That would ring true in regards to our council – a cosy work-from-home culture populated by fully paid employees who seems entirely disengaged from the city they are employed to take care of.
And likewise our police force, largely absent from the streets, takes no follow-up action on what they consider to be low-level crime.
The council and police need to get a grip, get back to work and do their jobs – funded by law-abiding, council tax paying residents – before those residents demand efficient private services in their place.
Private tagging removal services paid on a daily basis would be far more efficient and cost-effective than the ineffective and largely absent enforcement teams are proving to be.
Adrian Hart is a candidate for the Brighton and Hove Independents in Queen’s Park for a seat on Brighton and Hove City Council.
The council environmental enforcement team are employed for one job, and one job only. Stealing money from businesses who leave their bins out 5 mins late in the morning. You’ll be hard pressed to find a business that hasn’t been stung by this lot. Graffiti, they couldn’t give a monkeys about catching the offenders as that would cut off a revenue stream for them.
This council is by far the most anti business council I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Bin fines, graffiti fines, blocking roads off so deliveries can’t happen, no park and ride, excessive parking charges, list is endless with how little they do for businesses.
Most businesses now don’t bother recycling as they do not have the space to keep 3 bins inside where as before this wasn’t a problem.
Tuesday morning at 09:05 there will be an environmental officer waiting on every main business street eyeing up commercial bins, waiting for the day someone is running late to open up, yet the public bins are over flowing, weeds and litter everywhere & the taggers are in bed. Great service BHCC keep up the hard work
This guy recons he’s helping people’s mental health. What about the mental health of a small company that has had to paint the side of their shop 40 times in a year just to avoid getting fined by the council. What a narcissist
Crew is still tagging all over Brighton. In recent days he has tagged the new mural on the side of Costa in Ann Street which has now been removed, the Cowley club in London Road and the fencing surrounding the Ladyboys tents by St Peter’s Church. The Council and Police know all about him and his vandalism but they do nothing. It’s shameful.
This is an excellent article highlighting a scandalous dereliction of duty by the Council. Why should the city’s residents pay the wages of people who refuse to do their jobs.
Whoever is responsible for not getting this man prosecuted should lose their job.
……and he believes the Argus article brought him such notoriety that gave him carte Blanche to continue daubing CREW all over Brighton properties and businesses!
Astoundingly just one day after it was completed he daubed CREW across the mouth of the legendary Jah Shaka memorial days after his passing. How dare he. The artist has made it good again and might seek compensation from Johnny Crew McMillian.
Cowardly and arrogant that he is, he is now claiming he is so popular that his fans and admirers are doing the tags in his name. Come off it Johnny – apologise, put it right and desist from damaging our City. A City that is hosting you and paying your accommodation from our Council Tax – insult to injury!!
This is madness when the council/police threaten businesses and residential owners if they don’t clean/paint over the graffiti the taggers have done to their buildings!
Why hasn’t the Edinburgh tagger been prosecuted for criminal damage and at the very least banned from the city centre? The ‘City of Refuge’ has morphed into the city of refuse.
It is long past time the local authority was stirred out of its complacency and lethargy.
I used to be a regular tourist to Brighton but the parking charges are taking the mick of late, and now to learn about how the council fines local businesses. These poor shop owners are being squeezed. It’s almost as if the council don’t want them to exist. Fingers crossed this mindless tagger gets nicked.
Tagging is so low quality. I’d challenge him to try doing something actually artistic and worthy of the term. It gives actual graffiti artists a bad name.
An abyss of rubbish/refuse: homophic confusion = a bit like the inarticulate daubings passing as art nowadays.
And the protection racket masquerading as innocent local tax….