Australia - Bikies aren't so bad, says Commissioner Mal Hyde

OFF THE WIRE
Miles Kemp
 adelaidenow.com.au

PREMIER Mike Rann and Police Commissioner Mal Hyde have rejected speculation about a rift over the threats posed by outlaw bikie gangs.
Mr Hyde was quoted in The Advertiser, based on an interview given two years ago, that a great deal of public concerns about bikie-related crime did not necessarily match the level of serious crime being committed.
But Mr Hyde said on ABC radio this morning that his comments were not meant 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.
Mr Hyde said he had not been misquoted in The Advertiser report.
"Bikies are a serious problem, we work hard in dealing with them, we need laws to deal with them and organised crime and we do not step away from any of that," he said.
"There's no need to go back and explain anything."
Mr Rann also said on radio the report of Mr Hyde's comments was "a beat-up".
He said he and Mr Hyde had been "totally at one on bikie legislation".
"I mean the fact of the matter is this is a threat to our society and if people want weaker laws or weaker action against bikies, vote for the Liberals because we've seen where they stand on these issues," Mr Rann said.
"If the debate is about our tough bikie laws, those the laws that the police wanted, those are the laws that we gave them.
"The Police Commissioner is well aware and has briefed me about the extortions, illegal importations of every range of guns, we've got bombs being manufactured.
"Essentially outlaw bikie gangs are about manufacturing and distributing, selling drugs to our kids and I make absolutely no apology to anyone about the fact we are backing the police on this."
In a new book, Mr Hyde says "there is a great deal of public concern that may not necessarily match the serious crime that they are committing".
His views are in stark contrast to those of Mr Rann, who said in 2007 that bikies were as bad as "terrorists".
Mr Rann had said national laws were needed to stop them organising their activities.
"I have also indicated that in addition, the national counter-terrorism laws that have been appropriately modified and adopted could provide a nationally consistent approach to ban and control outlaw bikie gangs," he said of the now-stalled laws.
Mr Hyde said bikies presented two problems - the "serious" and "organised type" crime they committed, but also a "public face which most organised criminals don't have" which portrayed them as "above the law".
He made the comments in an interview with Monash University criminology professor David Baker, who devoted a chapter to Mr Hyde in his book Trends in Policing: Interviews with Police Leaders across the Globe, because of his reformist agenda and longevity as commissioner since 1997.
A spokesman for Mr Hyde told The Advertiser yesterday that he had been quoted correctly and he stood by the comments but denied they were a change in his position that bikie gangs were a "serious problem".
In the book, Mr Hyde says: "The challenge around the bikies is really two-fold. The first is that they commit serious crime and much of it is organised type crime, so you have to deal with that.
"There are other organised crime groups as well, but the bikies have a public face which most organised criminals don't have and which is about their persona: how they use violence, how they dress and how they behave and how they like to be above the law.
"The fact that there is serious concern about their behaviour is an issue in itself."
His views appeared to contradict the repeated comments of the State Government, which had devoted far more attention to "terrorist" bikies than any other crime group and passed laws banning them from associating with each other.
Parts of the legislation have been deemed unconstitutional in the High Court.
Critics of the laws have accused the State Government of exaggerating the bikie crime problem to promote its law and order credentials.
Mr Hyde also says in the book South Australia is "under-represented" on bikie crime compared with other states.
"In terms of bikies we actually don't have a major problem here in the sense that it exceeds the problem in other states and territories," he says.
"When you count the number of bikies, South Australia only has about 6 per cent of the national figure and we have 8 per cent of the population of Australia, so we are actually under-represented in bikies."
Commissioner for the Victims of Crime Michael O'Connell was critical of the "rhetoric" used by some in the anti-bikie debate and said comments against bikies in the media did not match public concern.
"There is a perception that people are worried about bikies and the crime they are committing but when you ask people what they are worried about, bikies don't feature," he said.
"Surveys on fear of crime do not reveal broad public concern about organised crime. Some of the very public and violent incidents involving members of bikie gangs and others have fuelled fear of these people and drawn attention to their activities.
"That fear, however, might be a consequence of the general worry fostered by signs of disorder and social incivilities."
UnitingCare Wesley spokesman Mark Henley said he was encouraged by the tone of Mr Hyde's comments, which also included a statement that the growing divide between rich and poor was an increasing cause of crime.
"I think I agree with most of what the Commissioner has said (in the book chapter) and find it encouraging that he is saying some of these things, particularly the comments about the growing divide between rich and poor; stuff we've been saying for a while, but if the Commissioner says so, it's right," he said.