Wellington  - A Wellington community police constable claims to have cut the rate of graffiti vandalism by making offenders wear a pink vest while painting over their tags, it was reported Tuesday.

Constable Theo Gommans takes the vests, which bear the word "tagger," to suburban schools and says wearing them makes vandals think about the consequences of their actions, Radio New Zealand reported.

He rejected a call to ban the vests of shame by city councillor Iona Pannett, who likened them to Nazi Germany's use of pink triangle badges to identify homosexuals in concentration camps. (dpa)