HIT CRIMINALS WHERE IT HURTS THEM MOST, IN THE POCKETBOOK

A report in the Sunday Province that vehicle seizures are part of a
new Vancouver city police tactic in targeting drug pushers and other
habitual criminals should come as welcome news to all law-abiding citizens.

These punks may not care about much in the world, except themselves.
But as Insp. Dean Robinson, head of Vancouver's drug and gang section
points out, they value their assets -- their money and their property.

And they especially seem to value their high-end cars, which they
clearly think gives them a certain cachet they might otherwise lack,
given the nature of their ignoble profession.

So, seizing their prestigious autos under proceeds-of-crime
legislation -- under which the vehicles would become the property of
the government -- makes eminent sense. And it sure beats relying on
our notoriously lenient judges to serve up any genuinely painful punishment.

"Doing [criminal] business in Vancouver is going to become as
expensive as we can possibly make it," Robinson said.

Let's hope the police follow through on their pledge.

Let's also hope that our judges finally start to respond to pressure
from many members of the public -- and some politicians, like Prime
Minister Stephen Harper -- who want them finally to start getting
tough on crime, too.

Why, even the famously liberal former chief justice of Canada, Antonio
Lamer, now says some sentences are not as severe as they should be.

The fact is it's not really up to the cops to hit the criminals where
it hurts. That should be up to the judges and the court system -- and
the evidence is mounting that they are failing at their job.