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Monday, July 31, 2017

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Police in Texas Pressuring Bars to Ban “Motorcycle Colors”



OFF THE WIRE

Police in Texas Pressuring Bars to Ban “Motorcycle Colors”

Motorcyclists from Texas and around the US, many wearing motorcycle-related patches and colors, regularly visit public establishments and bars in San Marcos, Texas.

Recently, the San Marcos Police Department (SMPD) made a prejudicial recommendation to downtown San Marcos businesses to implement a broad policy of discrimination against any individual wearing motorcycle-related insignia or colors.

These recommendations amount to coercive pressure from a government actor to implement policies of discrimination. It is settled law that motorcycle patches and colors are Constitutionally protected by the 1st Amendment from acts of government discrimination. Prohibiting individuals from expressing themselves with patches or insignia exposes the government to liability under 42 USC §1983.

No agent of the government may pressure or coerce any establishment to impose a dress code that prohibits attendees from wearing clothing displaying the name or symbols associated with a motorcycle organization.

The Motorcycle Profiling Project (MPP), an organization representing the interests of motorcyclists in Texas and across America, is requesting that the San Marcos PD cease and desist from any further discriminatory recommendations relating to motorcycle clubs and has sent the following letter:


July 25, 2017


Chase Stapp – Chief of Police
San Marcos Police Department
cstapp@sanmarcostx.gov
tel: 512-753-2110


Dear Chief Stapp,

Recently, the San Marcos Police Department (SMPD) issued a prejudicial recommendation to downtown San Marcos businesses to implement a broad policy of discrimination against any individual wearing motorcycle-related insignia or colors. These recommendations amount to coercive pressure from a government actor to implement policies of discrimination. It is settled law that motorcycle patches and colors are Constitutionally protected by the 1st Amendment from acts of government discrimination.

No agent of the government may recommend, pressure or coerce any establishment to impose a dress code that prohibits attendees from wearing clothing displaying the name or symbols associated with a motorcycle organization. Prohibiting individuals from expressing themselves with patches or insignia exposes the government to liability under 42 USC §1983.

The Motorcycle Profiling Project (MPP), an organization representing the interests of motorcyclists in Texas and across America, is requesting that the San Marcos PD cease and desist from any further discriminatory recommendations relating to motorcycle clubs and issue a statement informing the public based on the attached analysis. (See pages 2-4)

The MPP looks forward to your response and resolution of this issue.

Sincerely,
Motorcycle Profiling Project
info@motorcycleprofilingproject.com
motorcycleprofilingproject.com

The San Marcos PD is Encouraging Private Discrimination


  1. Members of motorcycle clubs and motorcycle organizations regularly frequent public establishments in San Marcos, Texas to engage in protected expressive conduct such as charitable and political benefits and political benefits and fundraisers.

  1. As reported in the San Marcos Record, the President of the Downtown Association of San Marcos has publicly stated that the San Marcos Police Department has seen “an increase in the presence of the Bandidos Motorcycle Gang in the city and in downtown in recent weeks” and are “recommending that downtown establishments to keep an eye out and consider implementing strategies to make their space unwelcoming to this group.” One of those strategies is to post dress code signage at the door to include rules against “Gang related ‘cuts,’ ‘vests,’ or other insignia” in addition to any dress code rules. 1

Police Encouraging Private Discrimination Amounts to State Action


  1. Prohibited state involvement can be found “even where the state can be charged with only encouraging,” rather than commanding discrimination, such as state actors encouraging owners to exercise their “right to privately discriminate on grounds which admittedly would be unavailable under the Fourteenth Amendment should state action be involved.” 2

  1. Public statements by city officials encouraging private discrimination can have as much coercive potential as an actual ordinance. 3 Authorizing private discrimination
    significantly involves the state with invidious discrimination. “The right to discriminate is now one of the basic policies of the State.”  State action that encourages private discrimination “establishes the right to discriminate as a basic state policy,”” and “will significantly encourage and involve the State in private discrimination.4

  1. State action “which authorize[s] private discrimination” makes the State “at least a partner in the instant act of discrimination. . . .” The courts “conceive of no other purpose for an application of” such state recommendations “aside from authorizing the perpetration of a purported private discrimination. . . .” Such a recommendation “unconstitutionally involves the State in…discrimination, and is therefore invalid under the Fourteenth Amendment.” 5

  1. Police recommendations invoke state authority to discriminate so those practicing discrimination “need no longer rely solely on their personal choice.” They can now invoke express state authority, “free from censure or interference of any kind from official sources. All individuals, partnerships, corporations and other legal entities, as  well as their agents and representatives, will now discriminate…” 6

  1. Private Owners are acting on the state’s authority to discriminate in San Marcos. The President of  the  Downtown  Association  of  San  Marcos  has  publicly  endorsed  the SMPD’s recommendations at a recent Downtown Association of San Marcos organizational meeting, as reported by the San Marcos Register. (See Supra note #1)

  1. If police recommend private discrimination, and are also responsible for enforcing violations of that private policy of discrimination, then both the recommendation and enforcement of violations are unconstitutional. Even when a state recommendation is neutral in its terms, if the result of its application would be to invoke the sanctions of the State to enforce a concededly discriminatory private rule, such as arresting violators for trespassing, then those recommendations and sanctions would violate the Fourteenth Amendment. 7    The  Supreme  Court  has  made  clear  the  impetus  for  the forbidden discrimination need not originate with the State if it is state action that enforces privately originated discrimination. 8Imagine if the recommendation was to make public establishments unwelcoming to people wearing clothing or insignia indicating that they are republicans, democrats, environmentalists, or Cowboys fans.

  1. Private owners confirm pressure from SMPD recommendations, against their own wishes and economic well-being, are driving bikers NBC News affiliate KXAN (Austin) reports that Kristan Alvarez, owner of KnDs in downtown San Marcos, reports:“I want bikers in here; I would love to see more bikers here. Like I said, we do sale biker stuff and I’m totally against it,” says Alvarez.“I know a lot of bikers, Bandidos specifically and I just feel like they aren’t all bad people, they shop here all the time and I want to welcome them here,” said Alvarez. “I was a little upset that they were kind of pushing them away, I lose sales because of that.”  9

  1. Bar owners have a constitutional right to pursue an occupation free from government coercion. According to the Supreme Court, the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment protects  a  liberty  or  property  interest  in  pursuing  the  “common occupations  or  professions  of  life.”  10 The  constitutional  right  infringed  in  cases of excessive and unreasonable police pressure is “the right to pursue an occupation.” 11

San Marcos PD’s Recommendations Are Unconstitutional – Motorcycle Colors  are Protected from State Discrimination By the 1st Amendment – Courts Have Rejected Generalized Gang Justifications


  1. Cohen California establishes that individuals have the 1st Amendment right to wear clothing which displays writing or designs in public places. 12 The United States Supreme Court has long recognized and protected the right of an individual to freedom of association. Thus, a person’s right to wear the clothing of his choice, as well as his right to belong to any club or organization of his choice is constitutionally protected.

  1. Federal Courts say, “On balance, a motorcycle club member’s hardship in not being able to express their views and the public interest in protecting speech outweigh the Government’s interest in suppressing an intimidating symbol.” 13 “Though the symbol may at times function as a mouthpiece for unlawful or violent behavior, this is not sufficient to strip speech of its First Amendment protection.”14 Prohibiting  speech of this nature constitutes an attack on a particular viewpoint. 15

  1. In Sammartano First Judicial District Court (2002), the court applied Cohen specifically to motorcycle club colors and rejected the gang argument, the exact same rational being advanced by the SMPD. In Sammartano, 10 individuals wearing motorcycle colors, including the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, refused to remove their colors and were arrested for trespassing. The state asserted motorcycle club colors were gang attire and could cause a potential threat of violence and intimidation.The Federal Appeals Court rejected the government’s gang argument and concluded generalizations were insufficient, explaining that “a total ban on this expressive activity…is “an unreasonable means” of preserving a safe environment.” Any restrictions must be narrow and “specific to particular (apparently hypothetical) cases involving rival organizations.” Restrictions on motorcycle club colors are unconstitutional “absent a showing in the record of actual (or realistic threat of) interference or disruption.” 16

  1. SMPD’s policy recommendation represents a total ban on expressive conduct and is not based on a reasonable threat. The policy is far too broad to be considered reasonable. The policy is not specific to particular threats. The over-reaching policy encompasses many people wearing motorcycle patches and colors and is therefore an unreasonable means of achieving a safe environment under the 1s Amendment.

  1. Generalizations and past actions are insufficient policy justifications. Even a more narrow policy applying only to individuals in a motorcycle club such as the Bandidos would be too general absent proof of an actual and specific threat. Motorcycle clubs, including those clubs labeled organized or criminal gangs by some authorities, are protected associations. Restrictions solely based on expressing those associations violate the 1st Amendment.There is “no evidence that by merely wearing [motorcycle club] “colors,” an individual is “involved in or associated with the alleged violent or criminal activity of other [motorcycle club] members. It is a fundamental principle that the government may not impose restrictions on an individual “merely because an individual belong[s] to a group, some members of which committed acts of violence.” In fact, the Supreme Court has long “disapproved governmental action . . . denying rights and privileges solely because of a citizen’s association with an unpopular organization.” Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 185-86 (1972). 17

  1. To permit restrictions on any person “who wears the insignia of [a motorcycle club], without regard  to  or  knowledge  of  that  individual’s  specific  intent  to  engage  in the alleged violent activities committed by other members, is antithetical to the basic principles enshrined in the First Amendment and repugnant to the fundamental doctrine of personal guilt that is a hallmark of American jurisprudence. 18

  1. SMPD’s recommendations defy logic. Insignia is incapable of action. Removing all insignia does not remove the individual. The standard of a specific and actual threat is superior because it preserves both the 1st Amendment and a safe environment

Associating with (or expressing association with) motorcycle clubs that government authorities label criminal organizations or gangs, is considered expressive conduct relating to an on-going public concern.


  1. “[P]ublic concern is something that is a subject of legitimate news interest; that is, a subject of  general  interest  and  of  value  and  concern  to  the  public  at  the  time  of publication.”  19 Further, the debate over the criminality of motorcycle clubs is a topic of “legitimate news interest.20 “To deserve First Amendment protection, it is sufficient that the speech concern matters in which even a relatively small segment of the general public might be interested.”  21

  1. “Wearing motorcycle club insignia is expressive conduct because it conveys a message that the wearer supports or is proud to be affiliated with the organization.” 22Wearing colors and associating with a labeled organization may be perceived as expressing support for that organization in protest of government condemnation. “Here, [an individual’s] wearing of [outlaw motorcycle club] insignia and associating with  [outlaw motorcycle club] members could be perceived as public support of [that motorcycle club]— i.e., approving of the activities of a perceived criminal organization. This is a matter of interest to the community.23,24

Endnotes


1San Marcos Record, “Merchants Warned About Motorcycle Gangs Downtown”, June 30, 2017
2Reitman v. Mulkey, 387 U. S. 369, 387 U. S. 380 (1967) Pp. 387 U. S. 373-381
3Lombard v. Louisiana, 373 U. S. 267
4Supra Note 2 Reitman v. Mulkey
5 Supra Note 2 Reitman v. Mulkey
6Supra Note 2 Reitman v. Mulkey
7Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U.S. 163 (1972), 407 U.S. 179, citing Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U. S. 1 (1948)
8Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U. S. 1, 334 U. S. 13 (1948)
9http://kxan.com/2017/07/05/san-marcos-police-warn-downtown-businesses-of-biker-gangs/
10See Schware v. Board of Bar Examiners, 353 U.S. 232, 238-39, 77 S.Ct. 752, 755-56, 1 L.Ed.2d 796 (1957); Chalmers v. City of Los Angeles, 762 F.2d 753, 757 (9th Cir.1985).
11Benigni v. City of Hemet, 879 F.2d 473 (9th Cir. 1989)
12Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
13 Ramon Rivera v. Carter, ATF, Case No. 2:09-cv-2435 (C. D. 2009)
14 Rivera citing Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234, 253 (2003) (“The mere tendency of speech to encourage unlawful acts is not a sufficient reason for banning it. . . .First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end.”)
15 See supra note 13
16Sammartano v. First Judicial District Court, 303 F.3d 959 (9th Cir.2002)
17 Coles v. Carlini 162 F.Supp.3d 380 (2015)
18 id
19City of San Diego v. Roe, 543 U.S. 77, 83-84 (2004) (per curiam).
20id
21Roe v. City & County of San Francisco, 109 F.3d 578, 585 (9th Cir. 1997)
22 See Supra note 13, Rivera citing e.g., Sammartano v. First Judicial Dist. Court, 303 F.3d 959, 966-67 (9th Cir. 2002), abrogated on other grounds by Winter v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 55 U.S. 7, 21 (2008)
23RONALD GODWIN v. ROGUE VALLEY YOUTH CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, (RVYCF et al.,) U.S. Court  of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, No. 14-35042, AUGUST 10, 2016
24note on Godwin- Different appellate circuits have traditionally handled unpublished opinions differently. Some circuits openly accept them, others do not. In 2006, a new rule was implemented under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Rule 32.1(a) is intended to replace these inconsistent standards with one uniform rule. Under Rule 32.1(a), a court of appeals may not prohibit a party from citing an unpublished opinion of a federal court for its persuasive value or for any other reason. Rule 32.1(a) applies only to unpublished opinions issued on or after January 1, 2007.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Harley Fine Cut

OFF THE WIRE
Last week the United States Department of Justice announced it was cutting a fine levied against Harley-Davidson a year ago from $15 million to $12 million.
The motor company was cited last August for selling high performance electronic fuel injection tuners called Screamin’ Eagle Pro Super Tuners. The Environmental Protection Agency called the tuners “illegal tuning devices that increase air pollution from their motorcycles” and fined Harley $12 million. The pollution police also ordered Harley to contribute $3 million to an EPA project that will replace conventional wood burning stoves with cleaner wood burning stoves. What has changed is that the motor company no longer has to buy $3 million worth of new and improved wood burning stoves.

Suck, Bang, Blow

For decades, Harley-Davidson has met government mandated pollution standards by making their air-cooled motorcycle engines run less efficiently. The engine was designed in 1907 and its operation is usually described as suck, bang and blow. Basically, less air sucked into the engine’s combustion chambers results in a smaller bang, the release of less energy when the fuel air mixture ignites, and a corresponding decrease in the exhaust gases that result from burning gasoline.
Eventually, the only way the motorcycle manufacturer could make that strangled, old-fashioned engine meet increasingly stringent pollution standards was by discontinuing carbureted motorcycles. Carburetors, for those who are new, were mechanical devices attached to the intake manifolds of gasoline powered, internal combustion engines. With a basic set of tools including a screwdriver, shade tree mechanics could tune their carburetors to run with maximum efficiency. Harley stopped shipping carbureted motorcycles in 2005.
Carburetors were replaced with computerized fuel injectors. Because they were electronic, fuel injectors became virtual black boxes for home mechanics. But Electronic Fuel Injection could be tuned with a lap top computer and a device that could reprogram the factory settings.

Opening The Black Box

That’s what the Screamin’ Eagle turner did. The device, when attached to a computer and the motorcycle gave mechanics the “ability to view the bike’s air/fuel ratio, O2 sensor readings, engine speed and temperature, RPM and vehicle speed, throttle position, spark advance and much more.” Harley said the tuner was “designed to simplify management of street-legal performance calibrations as EPA-compliant performance modifications are made. It easily allows the rider or technician to view and evaluate engine operating parameters.”
In a press release issued after Harley finally cried “uncle,” the EPA alleged “that Harley-Davidson violated the Clean Air Act by manufacturing and selling about 340,000 devices, known as tuners, that allow users to change how a motorcycle’s engine functions, These changes can cause the motorcycles to emit higher amounts of certain air pollutants than they would in the original configuration that Harley-Davidson certified with EPA.”

Tuner Equipped Bikes

Although the tuners were not equipment attached to motorcycle but simply a diagnostic tool to help owners understand the inefficiencies mandated by the EPA, the government still required Harley to “conduct tests on tuner-equipped motorcycles and provide the results to EPA to guarantee that their motorcycles remain in compliance with EPA certification requirements for emissions.”
In a section written by somebody who actually understood what tuners do, the release stated “Since January 2008, Harley-Davidson has manufactured and sold two types of tuners, which when hooked up to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, allow users to modify certain aspects of a motorcycles’ emissions control system. These modified settings increase power and performance, but also increase the motorcycles’ emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Hydrocarbon and NOx emissions contribute to harmful ground-level ozone, and NOx also contributes to fine particulate matter pollution.”
“Exposure to ozone and particulate matter pollution has been linked with a range of serious health effects, including increased asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses. Exposure to these pollutants has also been associated with premature death due to respiratory-related or cardiovascular-related effects. Children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing respiratory disease are particularly at risk of health effects from exposure to these pollutants.
“By reducing the chance that Harley-Davidson motorcycles produce emissions above their legally certified levels, this agreement contributes to state and federal efforts to meet air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter.”




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Cops Shoot So Many People, New State Regs Teach Drivers ‘How NOT To Get Shot By Police’

OFF THE WIRE
Arizona driver's manuals will now include a section on "how not to get shot by police" that is specifically aimed at armed drivers.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

BABE OF THE DAY

UPDATE: Former ‘Vets Charity’ Shut Down After Public Learned Founder Kept All But 2 Percent of Donations

OFF THE WIRE
The charity guy who drives a Rolls Royce deals with karma...
While J. Thomas Burch, founder of the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation, may be in part responsible for the organization’s tremendous fundraising, he was also responsible for its zero-star rating and the squandering of most of that money.
J. Thomas Burch, CEO of the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation.
J. Thomas Burch, CEO of the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation.
Burch helped the organization bring in over $29 million in donations between 2010 and 2014, all under the mission of “aiding, supporting, and benefiting America’s veterans and their families.” But Charity Navigator, a charity review group, found that NVVF donated less than 2 percent of its income during that time to charitable causes related to veterans. Only $122,000 out of the $8.5 million raised in 2014 went to veterans’ causes. They gave the NVVF a zero-star rating.
Charity Navigator has given the NVVF a zero-star rating.
Charity Navigator has given the NVVF a zero-star rating.
“It’s a zero-star organization and you can’t go lower than that,” said Charity Navigator CEO Michael Thatcher. “They don’t have an independent board of directors, they actually don’t even have a comprehensive board of directors—only three members on the board at this point in time and some of them are family. So one can say, is this representative of an independent board? It’s not.”
Listed in the NVVF’s expenses for 2014:
  • An $11,128 “emergency” infusion of cash to Burch’s brother
  • Travel: $133,000
  • Parking: $8,000
  • Unnamed “awards”: $21,000
  • Other expenses: $70,000
NVVF Vice President David Kauffman, in an email to CNN, said the charity was actively involved in projects that “fed homeless and unemployed veterans by donating to food banks, sent personal care kits to hospitalized veterans, and donated blankets, hats, and gloves to homeless centers.”
While the NVVF took in around $29 million in donations between 2010 and 2014, only 2 percent of that money went to veterans' causes.
While the NVVF took in around $29 million in donations between 2010 and 2014, only 2 percent of that money went to veterans’ causes.
Burch took in $65,000 a year as CEO and founder of the NVVF. He’s also deputy director in the VA’s Office of General Counsel—a federal employee—working as an attorney for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where his 2014 salary was $127,000. Burch lives in Washington, D.C., where he was recently seen skirting reporters in a Rolls Royce with a front vanity plant that reads “MY ROLLS.”
While holding a position at both the veteran’s charity and the Department of Veterans Affairs is not a conflict of interest, according to a VA spokesperson, Burch’s job at the VA was being reviewed by the agency’s Office of Inspector General.
In late 2016, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that his office has reached settlements resolving investigations into the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation, which also operated as the American Veteran Support Foundation. They said that former President and Founder, John Thomas Burch, Jr., and its Vice President, David Kaufman had to repay Burch’s severance pay received from NVVF and will cooperate with ongoing investigations into others associated with NVVF and its fundraisers.
Burch issued an apology to donors of the charity and to Vietnam Veterans whom he exploited in order for fundraisers to collect money. Burch also admitted that the charity had paid 90% of its donations to its fundraisers and admitted to deceptively marketing how solicited money would be spent.Out of the many horrible abuses the investigators found was that funds for the charity were used to “pay for foreign and domestic travel, frequenting night clubs in the Baltimore area on a nearly weekly basis, ordering excessive and expensive food and drink at the country’s top restaurants and lavishing gifts on women.”
The good news now is that the charity has been dissolved and can no longer fool people into donating to a charity that does not benefit veterans. The bad news is that John Thomas Burch retired from the VA on November 30th, 2016 with a full pension and lifetime health care.

Our military’s service members deserve the full support of those who claim to gather donations for their aid. Unfortunately, there are some who continue to take advantage of veterans and their family members through deceptive practices. Read more about common scams that target veterans in this story, and let others know to be alert.


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CALIFORNIA - HELPING WOUNDED AND EAS MARINES GET JOBS AND TRAINING

OFF THE WIRE

Near and Dear to the Former Marine

Returning to civilian life after military service is a hard process. It’s twice as hard if you saw combat. Every day, hundreds of military vets make this leap. Often they feel alone. Fortunately, with the help of the military, organizations, and kind souls, this process becomes a bit easier.
Michael Ehline (left) looks on to the class of vets and active duty personnel with Joseph Low (right)
That was the scene down in Camp Pendletonin July. 84 Marines and Sailors attended the Veterans Transition Support “No Cost Transition Program” at the Wounded Warrior Battalion. Among the activities was a 10 hour OSHA Safety Course.
Russell Levy, head of the Veterans Transition Support program, set it up for the vets. The program continues, including another OSHA Safety course in August, October, and November. Furthermore, there are also other educational programs. These include a LEAN Continuous Improvement Cert, Warehouse Safety Plans, OSHA Record Keeping, VA Home Loan Benefits, and more.
Former Marine and current LA area injury attorney Michael Ehline was one of the guest speakers. Ehline spoke about how education makes a major difference both in and out of military service. In addition, he tied in the work ethic of the Service with other professions.
Many veterans enter various fields. These include factory work, contracting, and white collar jobs like accounting and law. That’s what Ehline did, reading the law before passing the bar. Ehline joined another Marine veteran attorney, Joseph Low, in the discussion.
There are many moving parts to the transition back to civilian life. These include the possibility of medical claims revolving around the time in the service. These often carry with the vet well beyond their time of service. Keeping detailed medical records and being in touch with officials offsets some of these issues.
“It was a great honor to help my comrades in arms,” Ehline said after the event. “They are not alone. We will fight with them.”
For more information about Ehline Law, please contact our office. We are veteran owned and specialize in aiding vets of all ages. Feel free to call us toll free at 888-400-9721.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Friday, July 21, 2017

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CANADA - Police will be watching closely as bike gangs rumble through Calgary

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There will be about 500 bike gang members in Calgary this weekend, and the police will be watching.
That’s the message the Calgary Police Service and RCMP are sending in advance of an expected influx of motorcycle gang members in Calgary in the coming days. Of particular concern is the Hells Angels, according to Calgary police.
“This event, based on our criminal intelligence, is the 20th anniversary of the Calgary Hells Angels motorcycle chapter since their inception, and it's also a Canada ride,” acting Supt. Joe Brar said at a press conference Thursday.
Brar said Hells Angels has held events like this in the city in the past without incident, but police will be keeping an eye on it anyway, while noting members of the public shouldn't be overly concerned.
"We know about this event and we've been tracking their movements. There's no need to call us if they see a bunch of motorcycles driving down the street. But if they see any kind of criminality, we encourage them to reach out to us," said Brar.
Hells Angels events are to begin Friday and wrap up Sunday, but members started arriving in Calgary as early as Wednesday night. In 2014, the Hells Angels held a similar party with 300 members. The extra 200 attendees are expected to come from every province across Canada.
This gathering also marks the 20th anniversary of the patch over, in which the Hells Angels took over several Alberta Grim Reapers chapters. In July 1997, the gang had chapters in Calgary and Edmonton, with satellite chapters in Red Deer reporting to Edmonton, and Lethbridge reporting to Calgary.
The Hells Angels' dominance in Alberta has been challenged in recent years, with four international biker groups moving in: The Mongols, the Rebels, the Vagos and the Warlocks. There's plenty of fighting between those four as well — police documented 20 instances of conflict between Angels and Warlocks over just two months last year.
The Vagos opened a new chapter in Alberta in 2015. The Mongols, who have a presence throughout the province, also opened a new chapter in 2015. The Mongols haven't always been successful when expanding to Canada. In 2007, they opened a Toronto chapter, but shut down just a few years later.
Police are aware of several scheduled events being held over the weekend at the Hells Angels clubhouse on 84th Street S.E., however they expect members to spill out into bars and other venues in the city. Calgary police point out motorcycle gangs host several events across Canada every year, usually without incident.
However, five men are facing assault charges following a fight at an annual Hells Angels event in Kenosee Lake, Sask., over the May long weekend. Asked what the police would be doing differently in light of those charges to try to stop a similar event in Calgary, Brar said: "It's just like any other major event that takes place in the City of Calgary. The Calgary Police Service will be monitoring it, in conjunction with the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies across Canada, and we will take enforcement action as necessary."
Cathy Proswe, an adjunct professor in criminal anthropology at the University of Calgary who spent 25 years with the Calgary Police Service, says the gathering is a potential gold mine for the police.
"Five hundred people, that's great for intelligence. I'm speaking as a former intelligence officer for CPS. With the outlaw motorcycle gangs, not much has changed: it's largely been associated with drugs and weapons. Getting a chance to see who is talking to whom over the weekend, that can be invaluable," said Prowse.
Prowse doesn't think there's much risk to public safety, because the bikers know they're being monitored and will take great pains not to give the police an excuse to intervene. She says if something goes wrong, it'll be because a rival gang decides to go after the Hells Angels.
"We've had funerals, particularly in the American context, where a rival group has shown up to cause problems. I wouldn't anticipate that, not with this number. In the absence of that kind of incursion by another group, this is going to pretty much be a non-event for most Calgarians. And we certainly have no outward indication of the kind of rivalry between the Angels and another group that would lead to an incursion," said Prowse.
Here's a brief history of the past 20 years of the Hells Angels' presence in the city.
July 24, 1997: The Calgary Herald reports on the patch over ceremony in which Alberta Grim Reapers sew on their new patches to signify their membership in the Hells Angels. The headline that day: "Hells Angels welcome new Alberta members with 'exchange of colours'. July 24, 1997: Police chief Christine Silverberg had this to say about six newly minted Hells Angels rolling into Calgary: "Our greatest fear, for want of a better word, has come true. We don't believe this is a good thing for the city or the province, these people are members of a criminal organization." April 2, 1998: Utility workers cut the gas and power to the Hells Angels clubhouse on 35th Avenue N.W. after construction workers ignored a stop work order issued because the Angels never applied for permits. Feb. 4, 2001: Trial begins in the case of Kenneth Szczerba, 44, accused of plotting to blow up the homes of alderman Dale Hodges and two other people. Hodges was a strong opponent of the Angels' clubhouse being built. Szczerba is later found guilty. Mar. 30, 2001: About 200 police raid the Hells Angels' Ogden clubhouse and 26 other locations, seizing $1 million worth of illegal drugs and weapons and laying charges against 43 individuals, eight of whom were members of the Hells Angels Calgary chapter. Jul. 23, 2007: Hells Angels celebrate their 10th anniversary without incident. April 13, 2008: Calgary Hells Angels member Randall Irons acquitted of police assault charge. Jun. 17, 2013: Altadore residents complain about Hells Angels renting a new clubhouse in their neighbourhood. Police increase presence in the community. July 20, 2017: Police announce they're expecting about 500 bikers for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Hells Angels' first presence in the city. — With files from Adrian Humphreys 

USA - What Did Sessions Say

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A few sentences in a 2,000 word speech yesterday by Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III to the summer meeting of the National District Attorney’s Association in Minneapolis set off alarm bells among civil libertarians.
Sessions promised America’s prosecutors that he intends to place “greater emphasis on dismantling gangs” – which may mean you or someone you know.
And, near the end of his remarks he also said, “we hope to issue this week a new directive on asset forfeiture – especially for drug traffickers. With care and professionalism, we plan to develop policies to increase forfeitures. No criminal should be allowed to keep the proceeds of their crime. Adoptive forfeitures are appropriate as is sharing with our partners..”

Words Words Words

The angle national news outlets followed in this morning’s accounts was to contrast Sessions’ rhetoric with the rhetoric of the Obama Administration, But it is a misleading angle and the comparisons have been both fatuous and naïve.
“In 2015,” The Washington Post noted this morning, Obama Attorney General “Eric Holder’s Justice Department issued a memo sharply curtailing a particular type of forfeiture practice that allowed local police to share part of their forfeiture proceeds with federal authorities… criminal justice reform groups on the left and the right cheered the move as a signal that the Obama administration was serious about curtailing forfeiture abuses.”
But, of course, that was not what actually happened. What Holder accomplished was a public relations stunt that concealed the extent of an ever expanding police tyranny. In January 2015, when Holder announced his “reform,” the Post reported that Holder had “barred local and state police from using federal law to seize cash, cars and other property without warrants or criminal charges.”
Really, Holder’s forfeiture “reform” was just a smoke grenade. Two weeks later, the Wall Street Journal reported that what Holder was actually up to:
“The Justice Department has been building a national database to track in real time the movement of vehicles around the U.S., a secret domestic intelligence-gathering program that scans and stores hundreds of millions of records about motorists, according to current and former officials and government documents,” the business paper reported.
“The primary goal of the License Plate Tracking Program, run by the Drug Enforcement Administration, is to seize cars, cash and other assets to combat drug trafficking, according to one government document. But the database’s use has expanded to hunt for vehicles associated with numerous other potential crimes, from kidnappings to killings to rape suspects, say people familiar with the matter.”

Asset Forfeiture Primary Goal

The same day the Journal published its report, the American Civil Liberties Union argued in its own report that “With its jurisdiction and its finances, the federal government is uniquely positioned to create a centralized repository of all drivers’ movements across the country – and the DEA seems to be moving toward doing just that. If license plate readers continue to proliferate without restriction and the DEA holds license plate reader data for extended periods of time, the agency will soon possess a detailed and invasive depiction of our lives (particularly if combined with other data about individuals collected by the government, such as the DEA’s recently revealed bulk phone records program, or cell phone information gleaned from U.S. Marshals Service’s cell site simulator-equipped aircraft.) Data-mining the information, an unproven law enforcement technique that the DEA has begun to use here, only exacerbates these concerns, potentially tagging people as criminals without due process.”
The ACLU also reported that a DEA document uncovered as a result of a Freedom Of Information Act lawsuit described “asset forfeiture” as a “primary” goal of the program. The documents also showed that the federal government had deployed hundreds of license plate readers and had been sharing the information through the network of federal fusion centers with local and state police agencies since at least 2009.
Consequently, the important question is what Sessions’ words to prosecutors yesterday actually mean. Reason Magazine, which is probably at the opposite end of the political spectrum from the Post, reported that they represent “a disheartening setback in the fight to protect Americans’ private property rights.”
The increasingly opaque Trump Administration hasn’t offered any elaboration on Sessions’ remarks. But it is a matter of public record that Trump intends to “crack down” on legal marijuana which Sessions routinely describes as “a gateway drug.” And, the most recent case against members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club is, unusually, headed by an Assistant Attorney General rather than a United States Attorney. Since organizations like the Hells Angels, Vagos, Mongols and Bandidos Motorcycle Clubs are regularly described in federal filings as “transnational drug gangs,” the “policies” Sessions promises “to increase forfeitures” might be aimed at the bikers Trump brags he loves.




Thursday, July 20, 2017

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Sunday, July 16, 2017

BABE OF THE DAY


Not born to be wild! Harley-Davidson sales are struggling 'because millennials don't like riding motorcycles'

OFF THE WIRE
Millennials apparently are not interetested in motorcycles, particularly Harley, and identifies the company as the "old white guy" brand.
Wow.
  • A research firm downgraded Harley-Davidson's rating from 'outperform' to 'market perform' on Wednesday
  • The iconic motorcycle brand's sales fell in the US and abroad in 2016 
  • Harley-Davidson's stock is down 12.6 per cent since 2017 started 
  • Millennials are not expected to increase purchases of motorcycles anytime soon 
  • Recession-raised millennials may see buying motorcycles as a waste of money   

Millennials might be heading out on the highway and looking for adventure, but they're not doing it on motorcycles and that's really hurting America's most iconic bike brand, according to a new report. 
Investment management and research firm Alliance Bernstein downgraded Harley-Davidson's rating from 'outperform' to plain 'market perform' in a note it sent to investors on Wednesday.  
The downgrade was due to the fact that the firm's survey predicted flat growth in motorcycle sales among millennials — 18-to-35 year olds. Millennials, aka Gen Y, became the largest living generation in the US after surpassing baby boomers in 2016.

Research shows sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles are falling due to a generational gap. Popular among baby boomers, who recalled when the bikes were featured in movies like 'Easy Rider' (above), new research shows millennials aren't interested in motorcycles
Research firm Alliance Bernstein downgraded Harley-Davidson's rating from 'outperform' to plain 'market perform,' after research showed decreased millennials interest in motorcycles
Harley-Davidson is hoping new models, like 2017's Street Rod, will appeal to millennials
Alliance Bernstein analyst David Beckel said in the report, obtained by CNBC, that data showed millennials just weren't developing a passion for motorcycle riding the way previous generations have done.
Beckel added that, 'Gen Y's are aging into the important "pre-family" cohort of riders and Boomers are increasingly handing over their keys to the smaller Gen X population.'
The 'pre-family' age group was defined as age 25 to 35 and is Harley's target demographic. 
Alliance Bernstein also lowered its previous 12-month Harley price target from $62 down to $55, reports Barron's, which added that the stock is down 12.6 per cent since 2017 started.  
Harley-Davidson bike sales in 2016 were down 1.6 per cent overall, compared to its 2015 figures, while the company's US sales fell 3.9 per cent, according to Business Insider. A significant drop, since Harley sales represent about about half of the American big bike market. 

Alliance Bernstein estimated that bike 'rider growth has declined from a 3-5 per cent annual growth pace pre-financial crisis to close to 0 percent today,' Beckel said, adding that the firm expects that 'rider growth will dip into negative territory in 2017 and stay in negative territory for at least the next five years.'
This, despite the firm's original optimism that Harley-Davidson would receive a bump following President Trump's election, which came with promises of infrastructure spending and middle-class or corporate tax cuts.  
Analysts suspect that one of the reasons why millennials are slow or reluctant to buy into motorcycles is that the generation was heavily impacted by the recession period they grew up during. 
Describing that recession period as a 'very significant psychological scar' that 'severely negatively impacted' one out of five US households at the time, Morgan Stanley analyst Kimberly Greenberger told Business Insider that, 'If you think about the children in that house and how the length and depth of that recession really impacted people, I think you have an entire generation with permanently changed spending habits.'
Charlie Hunnam developed a passion for Harleys while playing a biker on 'Sons of Anarchy'

Video playing bottom right...
Greenberger backed up sentiments expressed in 2015, when Harley-Davidson's market share began to slide and the almost 115-year-old company announced that it was cutting jobs and dialing back production.   
'Unless you ride a motorcycle or scooter in a city as your transportation, motorcycles are a splurge millennials can’t afford and have no interest in – especially Harley-Davidson, which seems like a old white-guy brand,' Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Kelley Blue Book told The Guardian in 2015. 
In an effort to appeal to the younger demographic and encourage them to take another look at Harley-Davidson bikes now, the company revealed earlier this year that it aimed to launch 100 new models within the next 10 years. 
The reasoning behind the volume of new bikes, Harley-Davidson's CEO Matt Levatich told The Street, is 'the impact these bikes have and how they make a difference for an existing rider or inspire a potential rider.' 
Levatich pointed to one model in particular, the Street Rod, which retails for $8,700 and was released in the first quarter of 2017, as being a bike that is 'more inspiring to the urban population around the world, and people that are looking to enter the sport.'
Harley-Davidson was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903. Over the years, it's built tremendous brand loyalty, counting celebrities including P!nk, Kid Rock, Brad Pitt, Pamela Anderson, Katee Sackhoff, George Clooney, Charlie Hunnam and Tricia Helfer among its fans. 
Harleys have also been featured in many iconic, Hollywood films over the years, including 'Easy Rider,' 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day,' 'Rocky III,' 'Pulp Fiction' and the 'Captain America' franchise.

Friday, July 14, 2017

F.Y.I. - Mongols Case To Continue

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com.
A three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the Justice Department’s racketeering case against the Mongols Motorcycle Club today. The case will now return to the Orange County, California courtroom of District Judge David O. Carter for trial.
The case is the most recent iteration of the federal government’s $100 million dollar, decade long argument that federal policemen may ban motorcycle clubs and their insignia without violating the United States Constitution. There is significant case law that recognizes motorcycle club insignia to be constitutionally protected expression.
The federal government first tried to confiscate the Mongols identifying “collective membership marks,” including the name Mongols and a patch that depicts Genghis Khan riding a motorcycle, as part of the 2008 case United States versus Cavazos and others. The “Cavazos” in the case title was former Mongols president Ruben “Doc” Cavazos who had trademarked the Mongols membership mark through a corporation he personally owned. Cavazos was expelled from the club two months before the indictment was unsealed and immediately agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. As part of his plea deal, Cavazos agreed to forfeit the Mongols insignia to the government.

Off His Back

At the time the indictment was unsealed, a United States Attorney named Thomas P. O’Brien bragged, “In addition to pursuing the criminal charges set forth in the indictment, for the first time ever, we are seeking to forfeit the intellectual property of a gang, The name ‘Mongols,’ which is part of the gang’s ‘patch’ that members wear on their motorcycle jackets, was trademarked by the gang. The indictment alleges that this trademark is subject to forfeiture. We have filed papers seeking a court order that will prevent gang members from using or displaying the name ‘Mongols.’ If the court grants our request for this order, then if any law enforcement officer sees a Mongol wearing his patch, he will be authorized to stop that gang member and literally take the jacket right off his back.”
A Mongol named Ramon Rivera, who was not indicted in the case, sued for the right to wear his patch and won. But the same prosecutors who brought the Cavazos case, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Brunwin and Steven Welk, have continued to fight to seize the Mongols colors.
Carter’s dismissal of their case and the Ninth Circuits reversal of that dismissal is based on semantics. In order to successfully bring a case under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act the government had to prove that the “Mongols Nation, an Unincorporated Association” and the “Mongols Gang” were separate and distinct entities. Prosecutors argued that the “Mongols Gang” was a criminal enterprise and that “Mongols Nation” was a group of people associated with the “gang.”

Eyes Glaze Over

In Carter’s court, the debate over their distinctness involved questions such as whether hang arounds, prospects, wives and children were part of the Mongols Nation or the Mongols Gang and whether all patched, full members of the Mongols were part of Mongols Nation or the Mongols Gang.Throughout a series of preliminary herings, Carter asked prosecutors, “Who goes to jail?”
After considering the motion for dismissal over most of a summer, Carter eventually ruled that “there is no meaningful distinction between the association Mongol Nation and the enterprise of the Mongols Gang.”
That ruling is what the Ninth Circuit overruled today. “The district court erred in concluding that Mongol Nation and the Mongols Gang are not sufficiently distinct,” the panel ruled in an unsigned memorandum decision that cannot be cited as a precedent.
“The indictment charged Mongol Nation, an unincorporated association comprised of ‘official’ or ‘full-patch’ members of the Mongols Gang, as a RICO ‘person.’ The alleged RICO ‘enterprise,’ the Mongols Gang, is comprised of both Mongol Nation, i.e., the Mongols Gang’s official or full-patch members, and various associates…. Mongol Nation is a subset of the alleged enterprise, which consists of legally distinct and separate persons in addition to the Defendant…. Mongol Nation was alleged to be part of a larger whole, the Mongols Gang, which is comprised of additional individuals who together form the alleged enterprise, the district court erred by dismissing the indictment on distinctiveness grounds.”

Case Continues

Joseph Yanny, the Mongols attorney in this case had also argued that the whole point was to try to seize the Mongols membership marks. It is, in fact, the truth. It was suggested to prosecutors in open court as a way to do just that by a federal judge named Otis D. Wright II. After the case lingered for years, Wright got cold feet and abruptly recused himself. That was how the case wound up in Carter’s court. But the appeals judges thought that was irrelevant.
Some secret one of them wrote, “argument that remand will prove ‘futile’ because the government cannot obtain forfeiture of trademarks registered to Mongol Nation is unpersuasive. It would be premature to address whether the government will ultimately be able to secure forfeiture under (RICO) as part of the sentence in the event that the Defendant is convicted.”
So the case continues. And the Mongols legal bills grow. Which is now the actual point of the government’s case.





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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

WTF - Citizens Against Motorcyclists

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
In case you missed it, a new page titled Citizens Against Motorcyclists popped up on Facebook six days ago.
According to its anonymous author, the page “is a grassroots social organization aimed at outlawing motorcycles and prosecuting those who engage in ‘biker’ culture. Join our cause and help us to rid the roadways of these savages!”
As of this morning, the page had 27 followers and 269 comments to posts like “Did you know biker clubs are responsible for 90% of sex trafficking, drugs and child pornography in America?”
And, “Like And Share If You Think Police Officers Should Be Able To Search Motorcyclists Without Probable Cause!” Of course, police do that already by using imagined traffic violations, their expert “training and experience,” drug detecting wonder dogs and the motor vehicle exception to the Fourth Amendment.

Wait For It

Creating yet more constitutional exceptions for motorcyclists is something Citizens Against Motorcyclists is “really trying to push. Here’s why. Bikers already look very intimidating, most of them carry weapons and also have Drugs/paraphernalia on them. If anything, Motorcyclists should be open to this not only to prove they’re abiding all laws, but to also assure the police officer’s safety. LIKE & SHARE IF YOU AGREE.”
Enjoy Citizens Against Motorcyclists while you can. Chris Rock once said something like, “If you want to know whether somebody is stupid or smart, tell him a joke.”
Like, “Don’t you hate people who use big words just to make themselves look perspicacious?”
Citizens Against Motorcyclists is one of those jokes. It is drily tongue in cheek and a little too subtle in the Age of Trump.

Satire Is Dead

Some commenters seem to get it. One describes the page as “PETA meets bikers.”
But satire is currently on its deathbed so most of them don’t. “What the actual fuck. This is bull shit. If they can just search me for being on my Harley then they can just search you for driving your BMW and for being a dumb fuck,” one concerned biker sputtered.
And, “Ru a fucking Asshole or what.” And, “Fuck you and your ignorant stereotyping. You wouldn’t qualify to be biker material. Our standards are far higher.” And, “Frkn nutz!! Get rid of the soccer moms that are so fucked up on wine and prescription drugs!!! Then get rid of the Trucking industry as well!!!” And, “…your dumb ass should go get a booth at Sturgis and spread the word see how that goes for you.” And, so on.
The real fun has yet to begin. There are, after all, actual, grassroots groups with names like Concerned Citizens Against Loud Motorcycles. So just wait until the bikers rights crusaders discover this guy, whoever he is.




Monday, July 10, 2017

Lawmakers should think carefully before leashing ‘The Dog’

OFF THE WIRE
Another great article coming out of California:
http://www.ocregister.com/…/lawmakers-should-think-careful…/
By | Orange County Register
Crime in California is on the rise and the solution offered by Sacramento is … releasing suspected criminals back into the community without requiring them to post bail?
Assembly Bill 42 would, if passed and signed, authorize the pretrial release of an “arrested person,” and “set a time and place for the appearance of the arrested person before the appropriate court and give notice thereof” without the “arrested person” guaranteeing his or her appearance with a surety bond. Suspects “arrested and booked into jail for a violent felony” will first have to appear “before a judge or a magistrate for a hearing” prior to them being “considered for release.”
The law would also transfer to pretrial-service agencies, and away from judges, the authority to determine how much risk the suspects pose to the community.
AB42, the California Money Bail Reform Act, is being peddled as the needed reform of a system that discriminates against the poor. The Legislative Counsel’s Digest says “this bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to safely reduce the number of people detained pretrial, while addressing racial and economic disparities in the pretrial system, to ensure that people are not held in pretrial detention simply because of their inability to afford money bail.”
It’s not quite a get-out-of-jail-free card, but Lipstick Bail Bonds says it “has set the stage to make California the fugitive capital of the world.”
Dog the Bounty Hunter, also known as Duane Chapman, said California’s system needs to be modernized, but pointed out an unintended consequence of the law. It could “let lawbreakers go home and say they’re poor.”
“It’s not the poor man who runs” anyway, said Chapman, “he has no money to run, it’s just an excuse for someone to say that.”
In addition to increasing the risk of flight and the danger to a community a non-bonded suspect would pose, the “reform” would harm an industry. A 2014 Towson University study that looked at a similar proposal that became law on Jan. 1 in New Jersey found that the “loss in commercial bail usage will be manifested in the loss of commercial bail employees and, eventually, the closing of commercial bonding firms.”
“We’re basically out of business,” Kirk Shaw, whose family operates a bond company in Hackensack, N.J., told the New York Times a month after the new system went into effect.
According to the study, the financial problems will filter from the bail industry into the rest of the economy. For every 10 employees lost in the industry, seven additional jobs would be lost, there would be a $2.1 million loss in economic output, and $600,000 in wages would be forgone.
Taxpayers could also to take a hit. The report said the pretrial service unit would cost taxpayers $215 million a year. Since California’s population is about four and a half times that of New Jersey’s, the cost here could be close to $1 billion a year if you extrapolate accordingly.
The concept of bail has been around for centuries, its roots traced back to medieval England. It was instituted, according to aboutbail.com, “to balance the playing field among the rich, middle, and poor classes when individuals were accused of a crime” — which sounds much like the arguments that reform supporters are making. Previously, “only those who had enough money and property to post a security were lucky enough to secure temporary release pending their trials.”
Is it possible that only 21st century California could botch a system that’s worked well for centuries?
After falling for decades, crime in California is ticking upward. Violent crimes increased 10 percent in 2015 over 2014, according to the state attorney general. Homicides jumped 9.7 percent, robbery and aggravated assault by increased more than 8 percent, and crimes against property climbed 8.1 percent.
In Los Angeles, police say violent crime rose in 2016 for the third straight year. The San Jose Mercury News reported in January that that city had the most homicides it’s had in a quarter of a century last year as violent crime grew 15 percent.
Will AB42 and identical Senate Bill 10 increase these numbers if enacted? Before lawmakers turn California’s bail system upside down, they need to watch New Jersey’s experiment. A little more than one month into the new system there have already been some “questionable” releases, New Jersey radio station WKXW reports. The incidents have increased since then. Belleville, N.J., Mayor Raymond Kimble says the system is “letting too many people out and then they’re committing more crimes.”
It would irresponsible for Sacramento to act until it knows how its actions will impact public safety.

Kerry Jackson is a fellow with the Center for California Reform at the Pacific Research Institute.

BABE OF THE WEEK - JENNIFER

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AUSTRALIA - ID scanners launched across Queensland licensed venues

OFF THE WIRE
Will your ID stop you from going about your business?...
They say its for people on banning orders for violence or drug trafficking who else will be added to this list......your guess is as good as mine......
ID scanners launched across Queensland licensed venues
Tens of thousands of Queenslanders have had a safe night out at licensed venues across the State after ID scanners were officially launched last night.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath said 89,600 IDs were scanned in Safe Night Precincts.
Seven people on banning orders for violence or drug trafficking were flagged trying to enter clubs.
“It is early days but these are very satisfying figures to hear after just one night of ID scanners officially operating in 180 venues in 15 Safe Night Precincts across Queensland.
“If this system only prevented one family from dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy this morning, it is already worth it.”
“I’d like to thank police officers and 42 compliance officers from the Office of Liquor Gaming Regulation for their monitoring work on the ground last night.
“And I’d like to thank venues and patrons for embracing these new laws which are designed to keep everyone safe on a fun night out.”
Brisbane Region Acting Assistant Commissioner Brent Carter said State Liquor Coordinators across Queensland had performed compliance operations in Safe Night Precincts with their co-regulators at OLGR.
“Districts have used local intelligence-led policing to assist with the start of inter-linked ID scanners being used this weekend.
“Our priority has been to ensure the safety of the general community as they enjoy a night out around the state,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Carter said.
It is now law for patrons to have their ID scanned at premises in Safe Night Precincts for entry after 10pm.
“ID scanners are part of the Palaszczuk Government’s strategy to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence and are designed to ban patrons who have a history of violence, or drug trafficking convictions, from our venues to ensure people can have a fun and safe night out,” Mrs D’Ath said.
“Remember, if you’re going out on the town make sure you are carrying ID.”
Tens of thousands of Queenslanders have had a safe night out at licensed venues across the State after ID scanners were officially launched last night.
statements.qld.gov.au