When Chris Hipkins took over as Police Minister from Poto Williams a month ago, I thought to myself ‘mmmm, he knows how to get stuff done but I don’t know if he’s the rottweiler some people think we need a Police Minister to be’.

Which was the problem with Poto wasn’t it? She was seen as a pushover - which didn’t do much either for what some people thought of the Police Commissioner. And when people looked at the two together they came away with the impression that the Government is soft on crime.

So yesterday, as far Chris Hipkins’ mild-mannered standards go, he well and truly came out firing with what’s been described in the media as a Government crack-down on gangs.

I know its Chris Hipkins but when I saw him on the news last night, I was struck by how even the boy-next-door was such a contrast to his predecessor who, let’s face it, was a disaster as Police Minister.

But old Heatgun Hipkins, if we had Crusher Collins I think the Government’s going to need a similar sort of nickname for Hipkins, old Heatgun was talking tough yesterday.

“We want to hit gangs where it hurts,” was what he said. That was echoed by Justice Minister Kiri Allan who was riding shotgun at the announcement yesterday.

She said: “Hitting them where it hurts. We’re going after guns, vehicles and cash.”

Which took me right back to the old Hill Street Blues TV cop show. Remember that one? And what would the cop in charge say every morning? “Let’s be careful out there”.

That’s what Heatgun Hipkins was like yesterday.

So I think we can agree that the Government has certainly upped the tough talking, at least, and is putting a few more tools in the police and justice toolkits to try and do something to tackle what has been an increase in gang membership and an increase in gang tensions.

The things they’re talking about are:

• New warrant and search powers to find and seize weapons from gang members involved in gang conflict

• Expanding the range of offences where police can seize and impound cars, motorbikes and other vehicles

• Up to five years prison for a new offence of discharging a gun with intent to intimidate

• Seizing cash worth more than $10,000 if it looks like it might have come from some form of criminal activity

• Adding watches, jewellery, precious metals and stones; motor vehicles and boats to the list of high value goods that can’t be sold for cash

• And doing more to sort out youth crime and reduce offending

National, of course, is saying they don’t go far enough and the Greens are saying it’s just a knee-jerk reaction to try and get Labour up in the polls.

This is no revelation. Of course what the Government announced yesterday is designed to get more brownie points from voters. Just like all the banging on National’s been doing about getting tough on gangs, politicians don’t do all this for us, they do it for themselves.

Nevertheless, it seems life is going to get a bit more difficult for the gangs. And I can’t imagine anyone, other than the gangs themselves, thinking that’s a bad thing.

But is it going to be enough to convince people that the Government isn’t soft on crime?

More importantly, is it going to stop people wanting to join gangs? I don’t think it is.

Is what the Government announced yesterday going to see more gang members in court and punished for their illegal activity? I don’t think it is because you can have all the rules and laws you want, but if the Police aren’t resourced adequately to enforce the laws then they’re useless, aren’t they?

Which is why people like gang expert Jarrod Gilbert are saying that it’s a good thing the Government hasn’t gone further and banned gang patches. Which is one of the things National’s been demanding.

It might sound good but do you really think the Police would have the time and resources to enforce it? Of course not.

And, for me, that’s the nub of this whole thing. Politicians have forever been making laws that can’t be enforced. And if the Government was really serious about “hitting the gangs where it hurts” then it would have announced at the same time that it was also investing heavily in building up our police force.

So, my take on it is that the Government is doing a lot of huffing and puffing but I think this so-called “crackdown” is more likely to be a let-down.