OFF THE WIRE
Comments by South Australia's police commissioner about the state's bikie gang problem are coming back to haunt him.
The quotes in a recently published book, which appear to question the seriousness of the bikie threat, are generating some political heat for the SA Government.
But Commissioner Mal Hyde stands by what he said.
"There is a great deal of public concern that may not necessarily match the serious crime that they are committing," Mr Hyde is quoted as saying in a book by Monash University criminologist Professor David Baker.
Mr Hyde has had to explain what he meant on ABC Local Radio.
"There are people in the community who are overly concerned about bikies. There are people in the community who are not very concerned about bikies at all," he said.
He was not willing to enter a debate about whether public fears were overblown.
"My comments are not to downplay the bikie problem. They are a serious problem, as is organised crime generally, and the laws that we've been seeking are for use against organised crime generally and bikies in particular," he said.
It comes down to interpretation.
One view is the comments appear to deviate from the Government's tough-on-crime narrative. But Premier Mike Rann does not think there is a contradiction.
" There's absolutely no conflict between me and the police commissioner on this," he said.
The police provided the Government with a long list of bikie-related crime to justify the need for tough laws and Mr Rann says the police got it right.
"Those are the laws the police wanted, those are the laws we gave them, and the police commissioner is well aware and has briefed me about the extortions, the illegal importations of every range of gun - we've got bombs being manufactured," he said.
"Essentially, outlaw bikie gangs are about manufacturing and distributing, selling drugs to our kids."
But civil libertarians have long argued the laws wind back basic rights.
Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond says her party may not have agreed to the laws if the bikie threat was not as serious as claimed.
"If we were not satisfied by the police that it was a real problem, then we probably wouldn't have supported the legislation," she said.
Parts of the legislation need to be rewritten after the High Court ruled against the laws last year.
Nevertheless, the Government is not perturbed and is promising to unveil even tougher measures this year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/25/3121494.htm?section=justin
