Zusha
Elinson, journalist at the Wall Street Journal,
wrote the following article regarding he
proliferation of Police Biker Clubs and the
incidents in which they have been involved
possibly hurting all the law enforcement
credibility.
Prosecutors are
considering criminal charges against four
members of the Iron Brotherhood motorcycle club
for their roles in a Christmas time bar brawl in
Prescott, Ariz., that sent one man to the
hospital. Their nicknames are Tarzan, Mongo,
Guido and Top Gun. They rode Harley Davidson
motorcycles, wore vests decorated with skulls
and some allegedly carried knives and brass
knuckles. Their day jobs were police chief,
county sheriff’s sergeant, police officer and
paramedic.
An increasing number
of police officers are forming motorcycle clubs,
and hundreds now exist nationwide, according to
experts on motorcycle gangs. Gang investigators
fear that such clubs, some of which have the
trappings of outlaw biker groups, can hurt the
credibility of law enforcement and undermine
criminal cases brought against traditional
gangs.
“In the last 15
years I would say that we’ve probably seen a
tenfold increase in these clubs,” said Terry
Katz, vice president of the International Outlaw
Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association, who
works for the Maryland State Police. “The first
ones were pretty straightforward. They were
family-oriented clubs. What we see now as a
trend is biker by night and cop by day.”
The
growth of such groups worries some
law-enforcement officials because of the rowdy
and violent behavior that sometimes goes on. In
South Dakota, for instance, prosecutors charged
a Seattle police detective who was a member of a
group called the Iron Pigs with shooting and
injuring a Hells Angels biker in a 2008 brawl
between the clubs. The charges were later
dropped. This year, the police chief in Melrose
Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb, disbanded a police
motorcycle club called the Reapers whose members
had allegedly been in a bar fight.
“If this is not
addressed, you’re going to continue to have
these issues like you have in Arizona,” said
David “Vito” Bertocchini, a retired detective
who investigated motorcycle gangs in California.
“If these guys were dressing as street-gang
members and they had red rags hanging out their
pockets, would this be tolerated? Absolutely
not.” In the courts, defense attorneys seek to
torpedo charges against alleged gang members by
arguing they are no different than police
motorcycle clubs. Jorge Gil-Blanco, a retired
San Jose police officer and expert witness, said
the issue “muddies the water for juries.” He
adds, “I shouldn’t have to sit there and justify
this type of behavior.”
Members of police
clubs say the concern is overblown. The Blue
Knights, a law-enforcement club with more than
20,000 members around the world, was formed to
raise money for charities and ride bikes with
fellow officers and families, said D.J. Alvarez,
international vice president. “We try to
maintain a positive appearance,” he said. “We
promote motorcycle safety, we involve families
and we’re not discriminative,” he added. The
national board of directors for the Iron
Brotherhood didn’t respond to requests for
comment, but on its website appeared to distance
itself from the Arizona bar fight, denouncing
“any behavior by its members that would reflect
negatively on our club or our profession as
law-enforcement officers.” The board said what
was known as the Whiskey Row Chapter in Prescott
no longer exists.
The
fight broke out Dec. 22 last year at Moctezuma’s
Bar in Prescott, where members of the Iron
Brotherhood had gathered for their Christmas
party. A patron approached Bill “Tarzan” Fessler,
president of the Iron Brotherhood chapter and
the police chief of neighboring Prescott Valley,
and either grabbed his vest or asked about the
club’s patch, according to witness accounts in a
report released by the Arizona Department of
Public Safety. A melee ensued and a security
guard observed an Iron Brotherhood member
“pounding” someone’s face, the report said.
Investigators concluded that the man, who was
treated for a possible broken nose, and another
patron were hit. State investigators recommended
assault charges against two Iron Brotherhood
members, obstruction-of-justice charges against
Mr. Fessler and another member of the club, and
disorderly conduct charges against the patron. A
spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s
Office said prosecutors were reviewing the
recommendations, but have yet to decide on
filing criminal charges.
Yavapai County
Sheriff’s personnel board recently recommended
terminating three employees who were members of
the club. “I know the badge has been tarnished,
and we will work relentlessly to regain the
community’s full trust and confidence,” said
Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher. The Hells
Angels, which has been labeled a dangerous
criminal organization by federal authorities,
though its members dispute the characterization,
also weighed in on the incident. The local
chapter expressed its disapproval to a local
news site and challenged the Iron Brotherhood to
a boxing match. The Brotherhood didn’t take up
the offer. “[The boxing challenge] was really
kind of to stand up to these guys,” said Michael
Koepke, vice president of the Yavapai County
Hells Angels chapter, who last year had charges
stemming from a 2010 shootout dismissed. “They
give a bad name to motorcycle clubs.”
=====
While Minnesota is certainly concerned about the spike in fatalities,
let's remember that cops killed the first three. The first two 2013
motorcycle fatalities in Minnesota were felons running from arrest in
high speed chases. The third was caused when a Minneapolis cop took it
upon himself to rush to the scene of a shooting after the crime scene
was already cold and secured by law enforcement. The guy did not deploy
lights and siren, ran a stop sign in a residential neighborhood, and
T-boned and killed a motorcyclist. But what disturbs me most is the
"single vehicle crashes", which comprise 40-50% of the fatalities this
year. Sure, half of these were rider "error", but the other half
can/will be attributed to mechanical problems with the motorcycle itself
(ie: bad tires, brakes, cables, etc). In my opinion, this is a result of
people riding who have no knowledge of motorcycle physics. This is my
new mission - Know your bike, know yourself (Zen like I know). I think
the same can be said about car drivers too and is why the roads are less
safe. Below is what I wrote someone else on this subject. Motorcycle
rider training is important and I fully support, but what good will it
do if the chain on your 2001 Suzuki that you have not used in ten years
breaks and wraps itself around the sprockets spinning you into the other
lane with a gravel truck bearing down on you? Like I said, this is my
next mission. -- Mack
The best riders I have ever encountered
are those who grew up riding dirt bikes and worked on their own
bikes. I work on other people's bikes all the time and am always
amazed when I ask:
"How long has it been making that noise?
(or "when did it start doing that?) and they do not know what I am
talking about. Serious problems that could easily put them in the
ditch and they have no clue. About 40% of the motorcycle crashes in
my state are "single vehicle crashes". I am sure that many of these
are because of an unprepared motorcycle, not an unprepared
motorcyclist.
Perhaps skills training alone is not the
answer?
Mack
