OFF THE WIRE
adelaidenow.com.au
"WE will continue to work to ensure these people are eradicated from our community."
Those are the words of Premier Jay Weatherill yesterday as he tried to give South Australians assurances that the latest outbreak of bikie violence in this state will not be tolerated.
Strong, fighting, words indeed. But they seem to be just the same rhetoric that was spouted a decade ago by his predecessor Mike Rann when it became evident that the growth of outlaw motorcycle gangs in this state, indeed across the nation, was becoming a significant law and order problem.
What has occurred since war was declared on these gangs is that the Government has been unable to live up to its rhetoric despite the best efforts of the SA Police.
To the public at large, it appears these bikie gangs go largely unhindered, thumbing their collective noses at the law - safe in the knowledge that their code of silence, the equivalent of the Mafia's Omerta, will prevent any successful prosecution of their lawless activities.
Despite threats of bulldozing bikie fortresses, crackdowns on bikie runs and attempts to gather intelligence on their activities, these gangs operate independently of the law. They have demonstrated almost with unmitigated arrogance that they have no intention of abiding by the law.
Even fathers whose sons have been shot refuse to co-operate with the police. The fear of reprisals is ever present.
The police are doing their best with the resources available to them within the law. However, the recent spate of violence - including a shooting in a crowded restaurant - should be making the alarm bells ring even louder than before.
This escalation can only lead the public to wonder just how long it will be before what are, in essence, disputes between gang members or between gangs, result in some poor, unfortunate civilians being caught in the crossfire.
There seems to be no easy answer to combating these gangs. Even the full force of the FBI in the United States has failed to make a dent in their activities over there.
In South Australia, we cannot continue to countenance the growing threat to public safety posed by these people. Governments of all political persuasions appear to be fully committed to combating the threats being posed to law and order but the strategy is fragmented by state boundaries.
Harsher penalties at a state level have not made the inroads expected. Perhaps the time has come for the Commonwealth to step in and come up with a national strategy which is going to drive these gangs out of business.
It is worth remembering that one of the world's most infamous of criminals - Al Capone - was brought to heel not on criminal charges but for tax evasion.