Crimes of the Big Four motorcycle gangs

Motorcycle clubs (MCs) can be divided into conventional and deviant clubs. The most deviant clubs are those known as 1 percent or outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs). The Big Four OMGs are the Hells Angels MC, the Outlaws MC, the Bandidos MC, and the Pagans MC. The first three, although American based, have international chapters and are the largest motorcycle gangs in the world. All four are known for their criminal activity and violence toward each other. There has been little scholarly research on these secret and dangerous motorcycle clubs. This research, utilizing a LexisNexis newspaper search classified the criminal activity of each of the Big Four gangs using a biker criminality typology developed by Quinn and Koch. The study found that the members of the Big Four gangs are involved in a wide range of criminal activities with the most common being ongoing enterprises/organized crime such as drugs and weapons trafficking. There were also numerous instances of spontaneous and planned violent acts against rivals and others. The study added to the limited body of knowledge on these deviant groups and suggests further areas of research.     

The Tools,Tactics, and Mentality of Outlaw Biker Wars

Warfare among rival outlaw motorcycle clubs has been and remains a critical dynamic in the subculture. This paper examines the role of war mentality in the biker subculture and how it has changed overtime. Specific exemplary and noteworthy events are discussed to illustrate critical ideas. Also examined are the changing tactics, defenses, and tools used in these conflict and how the mentality of the outlaw biker club has contributed to the evolution of warfare from impulsive, self-gratifying mayhem to more calculating symbolic and instrumental acts.     

American Based Biker Gangs: International Organized Crime

Many American based motorcycle clubs have evolved into biker gangs involved in organized crime nationally and internationally. Using the information contained on the national websites of seven biker gangs—Hells Angels, Outlaws, Bandidos, Mongols, Warlocks, Sons of Silence and the Vagos, this article provides a listing of the gangs by chapter in the United States and internationally. These gangs have exported organized crime to the world as they have formed criminal networks with new chapters established outside the Continental United States.     

The wild (white) ones: comparing frames of white and black deviance

In this case study, I establish how a racial privilege shields whites from being framed as deviant by using two racially segregated motorcycle rallies as a naturalistic experiment. I conduct a content analysis of reader posts to online newspaper stories about the biker events (which regularly include deviance) and discover the bikers, their behaviors, and the proposed community reactions are framed in nearly opposite ways. Posters attribute a ‘white innocence’ to white bikers, framing them as upper class exemplars of American Individualism who temporarily suspend their morality during the rally by drinking, exposing their nude bodies, and ignoring newly passed laws, banning loud mufflers, and requiring helmets. Posters claim these unpleasant, although non-dangerous forms of deviance can be ignored, overlooked, and even celebrated as defiant acts against authority. The white innocence can appear racially innocuous until compared to the perception of black bikers who engage in similar behaviors at their rally but are framed as underclass criminals who attend the rally to steal and murder. This reveals how a usually unseen privilege shields whites from entanglements with the criminal justice system, as posters also call for further policing of racial minorities.     

One percent bikers clubs: A description

This paper, through an extensive literature review of biker websites, newspaper articles, popular books, the limited scholarly research, and court cases, as well as interviews and associations with law enforcement officers and 1% bikers, identifies and describes the major 1% biker clubs. The Big 5 clubs—Hell’s Angels, Bandidos, Outlaws, Pagans, and Sons of Silence— are discussed. Their history, number of chapters in the United States and overseas, and a “best guess estimate” of membership numbers are also provided. Similar information is provided on the major independent 1% biker clubs—Warlocks, Mongols and Iron Horsemen. There is also a brief discussion of the role of puppet (support) clubs and the four black or interracial 1% biker clubs. This research, describing the clubs, is the first step needed to stimulate research on this under researched topic.     

Pre-emptive Strike: How Australia is Tackling Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

In the past three years, new laws have been introduced in four Australian states designed to prevent criminal conspiracies by outlaw motorcycle gang (OMG) members and to disrupt the criminal activities of these gangs. The Australian laws push the boundaries previously set in similar laws in other jurisdictions, in that controls can be imposed because of membership of an organization perceived as a threat by the state. The laws constitute a pre-emptive strike against OMGs. However, there are very real issues about their likely effectiveness, given research suggesting that the primary structures targeted in this legislation, the clubs, are not necessarily the ones that OMG members use to conduct their criminal business. This article explores these issues, and suggests that the reaction of OMGs to this legislation may provide important information about OMG adaptiveness and resilience.     

The Enemy Within: The Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Moral Panic

When there is a period devoid of sensationalistic biker news, the public’s concern about outlaw bikers can be quite low. All it takes is one overt act of violence to heighten the public’s fear of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs are the most current “dangerous class” which have been the subject of a moral panic in Canada. Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs as organized crime bodies are deemed to be the single most serious threat to the country—the enemy within. The gang war in British Columbia is fuelled by drugs supplied by the Hells Angels and there is a wide spread fear that these evildoers are trying to harm and tear apart the fabric of our society. This article provides a critical in-depth analysis of the construction of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang moral panic with the focus on Canada. The roles played by the media, politicians, and the public in using isolated, violent incidents to support their interests will be examined along with the interactions between these groups and the resultant punitive actions directed toward members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.     

Criminal organizing applying the theory of partial organization to four cases of organized crime

We explore how the idea of partial organization can provide insights in the study of organized crime. Studying criminal organizing with a theoretical framework used for other social organizing phenomena can help us see the interplay between different forms of criminal collaboration under a single analytical lens, and start a discussion on whether criminal organizing is intrinsically different from other types of social organizing. We analyze four cases of criminal collaboration in Sweden between 1990 and 2015: the Syriac mafia, the Hells Angels Mc Sweden, the street gang Werewolf Legion, and the Hallunda robbery. While the outlaw motorcycle gang, and to a certain extent the street gang, are complete organizations, the mafia is based around and heavily parasitic on other institutions. We have also shown that time-bounded projects are found in the criminal context, with these emerging from strong network relations. Our results show that most of the elements of criminal organizing are not formalized and that partial organization is at least as important and powerful as complete organization.     

Holding Organized Crime Leaders Accountable for the Crimes of their Subordinates

Criminal law doctrine fails to provide an adequate solution for imputing responsibility to organized crime leaders for the offenses committed by their subordinates. This undesirable state of affairs is made possible because criminal organizations adopt complex organizational structures that leave their superiors beyond the reach of the law. These structures are characterized by features such as the isolation of the leadership from junior ranks, decentralized management, and mechanisms encouraging initiative from below. They are found in criminal organizations such as the American Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, and even outlaw motorcycle gangs. The paper offers a doctrine that may transcend this shortcoming. Referred to as “leaders’ liability,” this doctrine will be assessed and appraised through a comparison with competing theories such as accomplice liability, Organisationsherrschaft, and conspiracy.     

An analysis of outlaw motorcycle gang crime: are bikers organised criminals?

ABSTRACT

Outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs) are identified in Australia and internationally as being heavily involved in organised crime and/or as being criminal organisations. However, academic studies have shown that OMCG members are involved in organised crime to varying extents; this differs between clubs and across jurisdictions. To date, Australian studies of OMCGs are rare. Despite this, Australian governments target OMCGs as key players in organised crime. This study contributes to the existing literature by analysing OMCGs’ criminality in one Australian jurisdiction – Queensland. It draws on rich qualitative data to determine whether and to what extent Queensland’s OMCGs are involved in serious crime, organised crime and/or are operating as criminal organisations. The study finds that Queensland’s OMCG members participate in serious crime at a higher rate than the general public, but that there are few examples of organised crime. There is little to no evidence of OMCGs acting as criminal organisations.     

North American Organised Crime

The Italian-American mafia is one of the most enduring images of organised crime, but separating fictional images of organised crime from the real thing has not been easy. Overall, organised crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. Its continuing existence is maintained through the use of force, threats, monopoly control, and/or the corruption of public officials. The past 20 years have seen a decline in the influence of Italian-American organised crime in the US, but this has been offset by the rise of other forms of organised crime, not least groups from the former USSR. Meanwhile, the Canadian underworld is dominated by Asian groups, East European groups, Italian groups, and outlaw motorcycle gangs. The major organised crime groups in Mexico are extended networks composed of Mexican nationals living in Mexico, Mexican-Americans, and Mexican immigrants living in the United States, operating as competing networks in the illicit drug business from supply, to transit, to destination and buyers.     

Massacre at Waco: Biker Violence and Police Overreaction

The research is a qualitative content analyis of articles identified through Google alerts and Proquest searches one year before and two years after the deadliest biker violence in US history. The police biker shootout left 9 dead--four by police--and 18 wounded. The arrest of 177 persons--173 male and 4 females--from a variety of motorcycle clubs appears to be an overeacten by the police. The research examines the public policy issue: Law enforcement authorities made a Type 1 error during the mass arrests thereby misclassifying many of those arrested, causing severe consequences to innocent persons and committing numerous civil rights violations.     

When elites and outlaws do philanthropy: on the limits of private vices for public benefit

In the last decade, elitist philanthropy exploded in certain parts of the West and so did philanthropy of outlaw motorcycle clubs. The question is, under what conditions does philanthropy become an effective strategy of legitimization of one’s power in society? Neoliberalism did not only result in extreme inequality, weakening of the state, and emergence of increasingly disillusioned population, but also enabled philanthropy to become an effective strategy of legitimization of the informal power of both billionaires and criminal organizations alike. Philanthropy became instrumental both to image management in face of crises of reputation and to the insertion of these transnational non-state actors into governance. The destructive effects of neoliberalism allowed both groups to grow, and to reproduce and accelerate the very conditions in which they thrive, thus further weakening the state and fuelling inequality. The argument counters popular narratives about how private vices and greed can serve public benefit.     

Willing offenders outwitting capable guardians

In this article we use the situational crime prevention theory to argue that the subcultures of 1?%-MCs ?C commonly known as ??outlaw motorcycle gangs?? ?C and of trailer parks both provide willing offenders with ample opportunities to organise profitable crimes in the Netherlands. The simple fact of belonging to these groups generally is a powerful signal within the criminal subculture. Part of this message is that one must not try to challenge these capable and solid ??stand-up men??, as the risk of a violent retaliation and a loss of face will be high. This in turn will have repercussions on the person and on his business. Another part of the message is that one must not inform the authorities, as the repercussions will occur, in the sense that the group will retaliate. This applies to members from the group itself as well. Three group characteristics ?C social bonds, reputation and the culture of silence ?C make the crime entrepreneurs from trailer parks and from 1?%-MCs feared and respected actors in the underworld. Both full colour members as well as crime entrepreneurs from the trailer community tactfully use these group characteristics for the organisation of crime. These group characteristics are instrumental in the creation of a void in which there are no capable guardians, both psychosocially (e.g. situations and relations in which social factors dominate individual behaviour) as well as physically (e.g. the respective club houses and trailer parks). Another advantage is that through intimidation and reputation psychosocial barriers are erected in order to prevent effective guardianship. Behind these barriers there is a safe social environment for the organisation of profitable crimes. By increasing the visible guardianship and decreasing the reputation, the crime triangle of willing offenders from both subcultures might be weakened, as the effective manipulation of psychosocial spaces will be countered.     

Policing organized crime

Conclusions Recent criminological research in the Netherlands underscores the fact that organized crime is embedded in society and the overall picture makes it clear that police emphasis on a crime fighting model of the police, based solely on criminal law will not be entirely effective. Therefore, the Twente police force developed a new strategy of policing organized crime in their region. This strategy is based on criminological knowledge and on the approach of community policing: preventive, pro-active and integrated actions taken by various partners of the police in order to reduce illegal activities of organized crime groups. This strategy, however, can only succeed when two conditions are satisfied. First, this approach can only function in an open democratic society in which numerous public and private organizations and the public feel responsible for the emergence of organized crime in their environment. Secondly, the police force and their partners must be (relatively) free of corruption. This implies that this strategy can only be effective in societies in which organized crime has not deeply penetrated democratic institutions and business organizations. Respectively Commissioner of Police and head of the Division Organized Crime of the Twente Police force and Professor of criminology and director of the International Police Institute (IPIT) at the University of Twente. PO Box 217, 7500 EA Enschede, The Netherlands. We would like to thank Alexis Aronowitz of the IPIT for her comments on an earlier draft of this paper and for her grammatical corrections, as well as the members of the editorial committee for their suggestions for improvements.     

Criminalizing white-collar misconduct

In this article we examine three explanations for the differential treatment of white-collar offenders by the legal system: (1) an organizational advantage argument in which offenders in “organizationally shielded” positions receive more lenient treatment, (2) an alternative sanctions argument in which civil sanctions replace criminal sanctions in the response to white-collar crime, and (3) a system capacity argument in which the legal response to white-collar crime is driven primarily by resources and caseload pressures. These three theoretical arguments are tested through an analysis of data on individuals suspected of having committed serious crimes against savings and loan institutions in the 1980s. We seek to determine the factors that influenced prosecutors to file criminal charges against some of these suspects and not others. We conclude that all three models may be limited in their ability to explain low rates of prosecution in cases involving white-collar crimes of the sort examined here, and suggest that these limitations may have to do with the circumscribed levels of analysis at which these explanations have been pitched.     

To protect and collect: a nationwide study of profit-motivated police crime

This study is part of a larger research project on police crime in the United States. Police crimes are those criminal offenses committed by sworn law enforcement officers who have the general powers of arrest. Profit-motivated police crime involves officers who use their authority of position to engage in crime for personal gain. This study reports the findings on 1,591 cases where a law enforcement officer was arrested for one or more profit-motivated crimes during the seven-year period 2005–2011. The profit-motivated arrest cases involved 1,396 individual officers employed by 782 state, local, special, constable, and tribal law enforcement agencies located in 531 counties and independent cities in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Our data is the first systematic study of profit-motivated police crime. The study describes the nature of this form of police misconduct in terms of several dimensions, including the characteristics of police who perpetrate these crimes, where it occurs, the specific criminal charges, and the contexts within which profit-motivated police crime is punished through police agencies and the criminal courts.     

Gang Activity and Overall Levels of Crime: A New Mapping Tool for Defining Areas of Gang Activity Using Police Records

In this note, a new method for defining gang activity areas based uponpolice records is illustrated using the Chicago Police Department's1996 incident files. This method is based upon standard geographictechniques and uses a uniform grid that divides the city into 150-msquares. It is shown that this technique may be useful both in describinggang activity areas and in describing the spatial distribution of crime inlarge cities. A strong relationship is found between the number of gangsthat are active in an area and the general level of criminal activity.     

The Israeli criminal justice system in action—Is justice administered differentially?

This study focuses on two major junctures in the Israeli criminal justice system, the preadjudication stage and the trial stage. The data are gathered from records accumulated during the period 1980 through 1992. For each year between 1980 and 1992, a random sample of 3637 persons, who had their first police contact that year, was drawn from the computerized central file at Israeli Police Headquarters. A total of 40,007 individuals, with a total of 97,000 records, constituted the study population. The results identify which criminal records were most likely to be terminated prior to adjudication and which records, once adjudicated, were most likely to conclude in conviction. Major emphasis was placed on the issue of nationality—being an Arab or a Jew—while the effect of other variables, such as the type of offense and the time period, were controlled. The criminal justice system was found to be less discriminating at the early stages of the criminal process, but as the offender moved along the process, the chances that nationality would play an important part increased. Authors are listed alphabetically and contributed equally to the writing of this paper.