Pubdate: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 The Kingston Whig-Standard Contact: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers) POLICE SEEK BIKER BYLAW Outlaw bikers may never get a serious foothold in Kingston if city council can be persuaded to pass an "anti-bunker" bylaw. The provincial legislation, which must be approved by municipalities before it can be enforced, aims to prevent biker gangs and anyone else from building fortified bunkers that could keep police out. "It will probably be March before we get it to the Police Services board," said Insp. Dan Murphy, the city's deputy police chief. The Municipal Act was changed two years ago so each city would have the right to enact "anti-fortification" bylaws. The change would mean structures already built before the bylaw came into place would also be bound by it. At least 15 municipalities have adopted the proposed bylaw, including Windsor, Sudbury, London, Midland, Pickering, Burlington and Thunder Bay. Const. Neil Finn, acting media relations officer for Kingston Police, brought a draft version of the bylaw to the city a couple of years ago, when he was a member of the force's biker unit. As the representative for Kingston, Finn worked on the province's Biker Enforcement Unit, an organization comprised of the RCMP and law enforcement agencies across Ontario that work together to fight outlaw biker gang crime. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police convinced the provincial government to draft the legislation. Proponents hope the Kingston Police Services Board will forward the proposed bylaw to city council. Police believe the powers it provides could stop an outlaw biker gang, such as the Hells Angels, from setting up a chapter in Kingston from which it could deal in drugs, weapons, prostitution and stolen property, or operate illegal drinking establishments. "It's one more deterrent to keep them from coming," said Finn. "It would prevent them from setting up a clubhouse in the city and, if they set up a clubhouse, guarantee it would have problems." Outlaw biker gangs like to fortify their clubhouses to prevent police from raiding them and to fend off attacks from rival biker gangs. About seven years ago, during the biker war between Quebec's Rock Machine and the Hells Angels, a rocket launcher was used on a Hells Angels clubhouse in Trois Rivieres. The shell did not go off. Biker gangs have been known to use items such as railway ties, steel trusses, plates and shutters to fortify clubhouses. Finn isn't aware of any bunkers in the city at the moment. The bylaw would forbid the erection of an observation tower, protective walls made of metal or bulletproof glass or shutters that would be difficult to break in a fire. Electrified fencing or other dangerous hidden traps would contravene the bylaw. Also in contravention are laser-eye warning systems and visual surveillance equipment that could scan beyond the perimeter of the property. "No person shall excessively fortify or barricade any land for the purpose of restricting, obstructing or hindering access to that land," the proposed bylaw reads. It says no fortifications could be built that would prevent a police officer or emergency services person from getting onto or into a property. It also says that bylaw enforcement officers would have the right to enter any property to determine if the bylaw had been obeyed. If a bylaw enforcement officer were to decide the law had been broken, he or she could order that work be done to correct the contravention. The anti-fortification bylaw wouldn't apply to several types of properties, including banks, detention centres, land belonging to law enforcement agencies and city-owned property. Finn said it's particularly important that Kingston have an anti-bunker bylaw because the outlaw biker gangs see this city as a strategically attractive place to set up base. Halfway between Toronto and Montreal, next to the U.S. border, on the water and home to several prisons where there's a steady demand for illicit drugs, Kingston is a good location for doing bad business. Although a number of outlaw biker gangs have a presence in the area, including the Hells Angels and the Bandidos, no single player dominates. However, Finn said that could change if a gang such as the Hells Angels decided to make a concentrated effort to set up a chapter here. "It's only a matter of time. Eventually we will have another one," said Finn, who spent five years with the Biker Enforcement Unit. Other gangs, such as the Outlaws, have had chapters in Kingston. Finn believes outlaw biker gangs have avoided setting up larger operations here largely because they can't seem to get local drug buyers and sellers to work exclusively for them. "There are so many independents here that they won't align themselves with another gang," Finn said. "If they can get a better deal from someone else, they will deal with them." Finn thinks the lack of loyalty may be due to the large number of penitentiaries in the area. Perhaps many of the city's dealers are ex-convicts from out of town who don't have loyalties to an established set of people. Continued police pressure on outlaw gangs has also made operating here difficult. Booze cans illegal drinking establishments run by outlaw biker gangs have been tightly monitored by police so that patrons are intimidated from attending. In the past, open displays of outlaw biker gang colours have prompted police to be vigilant with traffic infractions. Finn said it's amazing how effective the smallest measures can be. "If you look after the little things, the big things always fall in line," he said. "If we stop them in a traffic violation, they usually don't pay their fines. If they don't pay their fines, they lose their driver's licence." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom