OFF THE WIRE
There’s a lot to be said for standing up to the bad guys, and I’m impressed with
the way our province’s top cop has done just that. In leather vests with the
winged death’s-head patch or in business suits, the Hells Angels are not
welcome; the same goes for rival crime groups.
In law enforcement
circles, OMG refers to outlaw motorcycle gangs. We’ve heard references to them
in recent weeks, but their presence in our province is not new. What is
different is the public messaging we have seen from our police, our mayor and
our premier, and it is very refreshing.
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary
Chief Bob Johnston was right to take the sheriff’s approach.
Like a scene
from the old westerns, he told the bikers, essentially, “not in my town.” Since
then, the streets have been abuzz as Johnston’s officers backed up his words
with violence-suppression tactics, reaching out to likely associates of suspects
and telling them this stuff won’t be tolerated.
Most longtime citizens
will attest that metro St. John’s of late has graduated to a new level of crime;
home invasions, more break-ins and armed robberies.
We’ve had two bank
heists in less than six months, and now firebombs and the drive-by shooting.
We’re apparently dealing with organized crooks who not only don’t have a lot of
common sense, but their intelligence is sadly lacking. Police tell us the
culprits shot up the wrong place.
There was a time in the ’70s and ’80s
that biker gangs would regularly visit our province for concerts or an annual
get-together hosted by a local motorcycle club. There was little trouble, but
times were different. Now we’ve joined the wealthy, and the crooks want their
share. Some get greedy and want a bigger share. So here we are.
In the past
decade, reports prepared by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) have
warned about outlaw motorcycle gangs and organized crime.
CISC is an
organization that helps share criminal information and intelligence within the
law-enforcement community.
Ten years ago, its annual report identified
outlaw motorcycle gangs as a “serious criminal threat in Canada.” At the time,
the Hells Angels were called the most powerful OMG with 34 chapters across the
country. The 2003 report said “Control over criminal networks and subordinates
is maintained by intimidation and violence.”
It said “In Newfoundland
and Labrador, despite their lack of physical presence, the Hells Angels continue
to exert their criminal influence in this region through associates and/or local
criminals.”
Move ahead a few years to 2006, and the CISC report quotes
then RNC chief Joe Browne as saying, “Increased penetration by organized crime
groups is expected as the economic conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador begin
to mirror other provinces.”
The following fall, Operation Roadrunner led to
arrests and links to a drug ring controlled by the Hells Angels.
Browne was
quoted in The Telegram on Oct. 14, 2007, as saying the Angels’ “tentacles reach
throughout the country. We’re not isolated from it. They’re not as established
here as they are in Quebec, where they actually have identifiable headquarters.
And our job is, to the extent we can, to prevent that from
happening.”
The 2010 CISC report quotes RCMP assistant commissioner Bill
Smith as saying, “The overall impact of organized crime groups has been present
within Newfoundland and Labrador for many years. The province has experienced
new found prosperity in recent years and as a result has become even more
inviting for organized crime groups to expand and increase their markets and
influence.”
The point of the history lesson is that the cops were on to
all of this well before we were. As Johnston has said, they’ve had success in
the past in detecting, disrupting and dismantling organized crime groups. Their
mission is to continue to do likewise.
The people who ordered the firebombing
and the drive-by shooting went too far, taking their battles into innocent
people’s neighbourhoods.
It may take some time for all of this to play
out, but the events of May 31 may have been a turning point.
http://www.thetelegram.com/Opinion/Columnists/2013-06-14/article-3276942/The-violence-has-gone-too-far/1
