Pubdate: Thu, 13 Apr 2006
Source: Bracebridge Examiner (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 The Bracebridge Examiner Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.bracebridgeexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2354
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

ORGANIZED CRIME

How big a problem?

The appearance of eight bodies in a field near Shedden, we are told,  
left the 300 or so residents of the area "shocked," "stunned," and  
"reeling." At least that is the reaction the several hundred  
journalists in the area seem to be expecting from a place that is  
inevitably described as a "sleepy rural crossroads."

If we know anything about rural residents, it seems more likely that  
the good folk of Shedden are frustrated that bikers have chosen their  
area as a handy place to dump bodies, and tired of being interviewed  
about it.

They know that the murder of eight bikers by their dirtball comrades  
is not indicative of growing rural crime, any more than the annual  
discovery of pot plantations in the cornfields is a sign of a rural  
drug problem. But it is a reminder that organized crime is not just  
an urban issue.

We in Muskoka know that too. We don't get many pot plantations  
springing up in our farm fields, mainly because the climate isn't  
right. But we've certainly seen grow houses, it's not inconceivable  
that some rural farmhouse in Muskoka houses a crystal meth lab, and  
the day will come when someone on a back road will stumble across an  
abandoned tow truck containing a bullet-riddled body.

Regardless of where we live, most Canadians face three main risks  
associated with organized crime. The first is that we will get caught  
in the crossfire, or show up at the wrong time arriving in the field  
just as the bodies are being dumped, for example. The chances of that  
are slim, regardless of whether you live in Shedden or Etobicoke.

A greater problem is the societal pain that organized crime  
facilitates. Drug addiction, prostitution, pornography ooze grief and  
misery; but they also yield tremendous profits, which is why they  
aren't going to go away. The Hell's Angels and the Bandidos didn't  
invent these industries, but they certainly help them grow.

Perhaps the risk with the most widespread impact, though, is that  
special interests will use spectacular crimes like the one in Shedden  
for political gain. It is too easy to respond to such a crime with a  
pledge to "restore law and order" by pouring more resources into  
policing, or surveillance training, or special equipment, or expanded  
prisons.

Crime statistics are slippery things. The rate of violent crime in  
Canada remains lower than it was a decade ago; Ontario and Quebec,  
where bike gangs are most active, have the lowest crime rates in the  
country. If we are going to put even more resources into a law-and- 
order drive, we need to have a clear idea of what we're trying to  
achieve. Eight dead bikers in Shedden is not the proof of a growing  
wave of organized crime.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jackl