GANG'S WAGE IS A BODY BAG

Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team dropped
a statistic on Province reporter Ian Austin that was meant to shock.

Forty per cent of Lower Mainland murders since 2003 are directly
linked to drugs and organized crime, he said.

That number is shocking. We thought it was much higher. Maybe it is
the splashy fashion in which gang members tend to off their rivals,
hence the news of gang hits tend to garner more coverage, but we
wouldn't have blinked an eye had Cpl. Carr pegged the number at 70
per cent. What tends to happen when you join a gang is one of two
things: death or, if you are lucky, prison.

To draw attention to the "death" aspect of gang membership, a group
called A Community That Cares has launched a rather brilliant
guerrilla campaign. Its beauty is in its simplicity: Join a gang, end
up in a body bag.

These body bags, emblazoned with STAYOUT.CA, were dropped off Tuesday
in eight high-profile locations throughout the Lower Mainland. It is
one aspect of the group's Youth Against Gang Violence public service campaign.

Well done. Let's hope the message doesn't fall on dead ears.