Is it worth extraditing alleged Stanley Cup rioters from U.S.?

I think most Vancouver residents are happy that more than a year after the Stanley Cup riot, the wheels of justice have lost none of their momentum, however slow it is.

But I have to wonder about the threat to extradite three suspected rioters living in the United States.

The Canadian Press reports Vancouver Police saying they've tracked the three to Washington, Alaska and Illinois. Canada-wide arrest warrants have been issued on charges of participating in the June 2011 riot and other related counts.

Two of the suspects are American and the other a Canadian from Vancouver believed to be studying in the United States, CP reports.

"All three are aware that there is a warrant out for them right now," Vancouver Police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said, adding they were told they will be arrested if they try to enter Canada.

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The Vancouver Province identified all three as university students — including two who'd been studying at the University of British Columbia. They apparently fled after they were allegedly implicated in the destructive spree following the Vancouver Canucks' home-ice loss to the Boston Bruins June 15 last year.

Montague also said the Crown is considering filing extradition requests with U.S. authorities.

"That's something that Crown counsel has to make the decision on; they have certain criteria regarding extradition," he said.

I wouldn't be surprised if the B.C. Crown prosecution service elects to hold off extradition applications for the time being.

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As Vancouver lawyer Gary Botting pointed out in the Province, extradition can take up to two years and though it would likely be successful in the end, it's a time-consuming and costly process if the accused fight it.

The Canadian studying in Illinois probably will have to come home anyway after his U.S. student visa expires.

As for the other two, it's worth asking how many taxpayer dollars Canada should expend to return them if the charges they face involve vandalism and not, say, assault. Should we be going after these guys like Insp. Javert chasing Jean Valjean in Les Misérables?

In Canada, people accused of less serious crimes are rarely even brought back from other provinces, never mind across an international border. They're may be subject to non-returnable warrants, meaning the jurisdiction that issued it must pay the cost of shipping the accused back. Often they don't bother.

But the Stanley Cup riot arguably is different. It caused an estimated $4.2 million in property damage, a number of injuries among police and Good Samaritans and traumatized employees of businesses looted by rampaging crowds.

Just a year after basking in its Winter Olympic glow, Vancouver earned an international black eye, and civic leaders and police pointed fingers at each other for allowing the downtown crowds to get out of control.

According to a special Vancouver Police web site, more than 100 people have been charged so far with more than 300 individual counts.

Despite politicians' promises of tough justice, most of the handful of rioters convicted so far have been given non-custodial sentences.

So the chances of these three fugitives — if their alleged crimes were limited to property damage — ending up behind bars seems pretty remote.

As Botting told the Province, they'd be better off returning voluntarily to face the music. Because if B.C. does decide to push for extradition, they may be sorry they put the government to so much trouble.

(CBC photo)