Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Law Reform free essay sample

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCG’s) inhabit an active presence in all states and territories in Australia. Some members of these gangs are responsible for serious organised crime and yet the total gang and membership numbers of Australian OMCGs is rising. According the Australian Crime Commission1. (ACC), Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs are among the most detectable components of Australia’s criminal landscapes and because unlike other criminal organisations who try and keep themselves anonymous, OMCGs on the other hang maintain websites, openly represent themselves through gang patches, tattoos, leather and publicly fight amongst themselves. These gangs have two sides; one legitimate operation of business (transport, private security, entertainment and construction industries) and then the other in the production and distribution of illegal substances and activity such as vehicle rebirthing, serious assault, serious frauds, arson, high tech crime, organised theft, property and traffic offences, money laudering, drug and firearms trafficking and much more. Fourty-four gangs in Australia are being of interest, with a total of 179 gangs and 4,480+ members in Australia2. . There is a string Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern presence in a number of these gangs and in some instances some gang members don’t even ride motorcycles. Numbers of individuals and motorcycle gangs argue that motorcycle gangs are constantly being unfairly targeted. Mr Errol Gildea, President of the Hell’s Angels Motorycycle Club opposed suggestions that motorcycle gangs were involved in organised crimes and commented, â€Å"the club does not break the laws as a rule, if individuals do, that is their business. They should be dealt with. But we are not an organised crime outfit. † 3. Gang members say they’ve noticed an increase in the public’s and police officer’s attitude towards them, and blame the government and media, who especially stereotypes and dehumanises them. However, it is noted that the ‘code of silence’ adopted by OMCGs contributes to the negative perceptions of the clubs and make it difficult for law enforcers to bring justice to individual bikers engaged in criminal activity. OMCGs mainly make their income from the manufacturing business and distribution of illegal drugs, and by having a business, mostly being tattoo parlours, they can put some of the income derived from those illegal activities and declare it as income through the business, basically disguising the mass amount of money. â€Å"Across Australia, outlaw motorcycle gangs are entrenched in the tattoo industry. Police conservatively estimate 1 in 4 tattoo parlours are bikie-affiliated. In NSW alone, police have recorded 189 crimes at tattoo parlours over the past 3 years†, says Alex Mann from Abc 7:30 investigation4.. Tattoo parlour businesses that aren’t owned by bikies say that they’ve been branded a bad name. They’ve also seen as big competitors for other businesses. These gangs make up only a small percentage of Australia’s crime rate by yet this small percentage is troublesome to the government. They are financially a stress to the government and are hard to expose. To police they’re views are negative as they stuff up society, meaning more they have to domesticate and take care of. Legal Issues Increasing prevalence of international connections, with gangs cooperating with other regions overseas and with sophisticated and high-threat organised crime groups operating in Australia and internationally. OMCGs are evolving in response to changes in criminal environment and attempts by law enforcement to counter their criminal activities. Members play a leading role in Australia’s domestic production and involvement in illicit drug markets; particularly of amphetamine type stimulants. OMCGs also hire external expertise when needed, such as lawyers, accountants, chemists and real estate agents. Pose a serious risk and nuisance to public and their safe being because they are liable to react violently to rival OMCGs to harass their members or for trespassing on their territory (Gold Coast Syd Airport) They are problem in which is growing as both social and financial cost related to gang violence and crime in both Australia and NZ. The issue costs the Australian Government over $15 billion dollars annually. The Australian Crime Commission conservatively estimates that serious and organised crime costs Australia $15 billion every year. This cost comprises loss of business and taxation revenues, expenditure on law enforcement and regulatory efforts, and social and community impacts of crime. Raising public awareness of crime issues is an important step in minimising the impact serious and organised crime can have on the community. The Government has introduced many initiatives aimed to dismantle and investigate OMCGs in Australia. The most recent tasks include; The Attero Task Force, established by the Serious and Organised Crime Coordination Committee, an initiative between state and territory law enforcement and Commonwealth agency partners to target, disrupt, disable, dismantle and investigate the criminal activity of the Rebels OMCG in Australia and was the first of is kind to tackle a specific Australian OMCG. June 2012 National Anti-Gang Task Force, which fights gang related crime as well as an Australian Gang intelligence centre to provide national criminal information and trends on gang activity across Australia and its links overseas. The force includes members from the Australian Federal Police, State and Territory Police Forces, Australian Customs, Border Protection, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink And the Australian Crime Commission. March 2013. Australias first national security strategy, Strong and Secure: A Strategy for Australias National Security, which provides a principle framework to guide Australias security improvements over the next 5 years. Jan 2013. The Commonwealth Organised Crime Strategic Framework (OCF) and the National Organised Crime Response Plan (OCRP) strengthen varied approaches, organisation, information sharing and combines activities to combat organised crime. As organised crime in Australia continues to grow and transform over time, Australias response strategies will also develop and transform to counter new challenges in the fight against organised crime. In recent years, most States and Territories have enacted legislation that gives authorities greater powers to tackle gang related crime. Often the stated aims of governments when introducing such laws has been to target the activities of outlaw motorcycle clubs. However, the legislations never refer specifically to organisations and also applies to any person or group that meet the terms active in the corresponding Acts. Each State and Territory has there own legislation to combat organised crime groups, including OMCGs. The table5. contains some brief information regarding the provisions of each Act, the lawsuit that has taken place in relation to the legislation in Western Australia, South Australia, NSW and Queensland, and some of the amendments that have been made to some of these Acts since they were first introduced. The table starts with South Australia, which was the first jurisdiction to introduce a control order regime for â€Å"criminal organisations†. New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Victoria later followed this regime, however Tasmania and the ACT are the only remaining jurisdictions without a control order scheme targeting organised crime. The ACT does not appear in the table; but Tasmania does, because it has a legislative scheme for the making and enforcement of fortification warning and removal notices in place. The following is a brief history of recent events: †¢ February 2008 – the South Australian Government introduced the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Bill 2007 †¢ September 2008 – the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008 came into effect in SA. Under the Act, a group or club can be declared an organised crime group, which enables various orders to be made to restrict the movement and associations of the groups members. The legislation was introduced to specifically suppress motorcycle clubs, which are viewed by the South Australian Government to present a major organised crime threat in SA. Responses to the legislation were divided with a number of motorcycle clubs, academics, legal organisations and individuals strongly opposed to the legislation, which has been described as draconian and restricting human rights. †¢ March 2009 – a violent confrontation between members of the Hells Angels and Comancheros Motorcycle Clubs on 22 March resulted in the murder of Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport. His brother, Hells Angel member Peter Zervas was shot and seriously injured in an attack a week later. These events were seen to be a culmination of escalating OMCG violence in New South Wales (NSW), which has included drive by shootings and the bombing of an OMCG club house. †¢ April 2009 The Crimes (Criminal Organisations) Control Act 2009 came into effect in NSW. The legislation was introduced as a direct response to OMCG violent criminal activity and provides a mechanism for declaring an organisation a criminal organisation and strengthens the capability of the New South Wales Crime Commission to take the proceeds of crime from these organisations and their associates. †¢ April 2009 – The Standing Committee of Attorney-Generals (SCAG) discussed a comprehensive national approach to combat organised and gang related crime and to prevent gangs from simply moving their operations interstate in response to public concern about the violent and illegal activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs. †¢ June 2009 – The Attorney-General, the Hon. Robert McClelland MP, introduced the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Bill 2009 into Parliament on 24 June. The Bill provides for measures agreed to by state and territory Attorneys-General at their April meeting. The Attorney-General stated that the measures will: target the perpetrators and profits of organised crime and will provide our law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to combat the increasingly sophisticated methods used by organised crime syndicates. The most recent issues are from the arise of the new Firearms Laws particularly Bar Lock Out Laws. 2013 Fire Arms The Firearms and Criminal Groups Legislation Amendment Act 2013 (NSW) received assent on 23 October 2013. This legislation, when it commences, will: amend the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) to empower police officers to enter and search premises occupied by a person who is subject to a firearms prohibition order to determine whether the person is complying with the order, to prohibit such persons from acquiring or possessing firearms, and from residing at premises where firearms are present, and from attending certain other places such as gun shops and shooting ranges and to create an offence to give possession of a firearm or firearm part to a person who is not authorised to possess it. Amend the Restricted Premises Act 1943 (NSW) to increase penalties for offences relating to reputed criminals attending premises and to allow police to search such premises for firearms and other weapons. Amend the Crime Commission Act 2012 (NSW) to enable the Crime Commission to investigate matters relating to the criminal activities of a specified criminal group. The NSW Parliament has passed legislation that will give police more power in managing criminal groups and firearm ownership. 2013 Bar Lock Out Law As part of wide ranging new legislation on outlaw motorcycle gangs, new obligations in the Liquor Act 1992 on licensees and their staff to not knowingly allow persons wearing or carrying prohibited items (such as outlaw motorcycle gangs colours6. ) into licensed premises. The new laws, which came into effect on 17 October 2013, provide that licensees, permittees, their employees and approved managers must not knowingly allow a person wearing or carrying a prohibited item into licensed premises (this includes, clubs, pubs, restaurants or any other licensed premises or premises to which a permit relates). The maximum penalty for a breach of this provision is $11,000. 00 (or up to $55,000. 00 for a corporation). The legislation in NSW stretched from Wollongong to Lake Entrance and was placed into action promptly as discussed in the Daily Telegraphs article â€Å"Pubs, clubs ban bikies’ colours†7. Some say its effective and others say it’s discriminative, for example the Shoalhaven police say its been effective in the reigon as shown in the abc’s article â€Å"Shoalhaven police say bans on bikies colours have been effective†8. Effectiveness The death of several people should not have to be the reason for review of organised crime laws, and shows that Australia attempts at preventing the problem have not been very successful. Although New South Wales has legislated specifically against organised crime, the murder in an airport9. area showed that the gangs are often willing to commit crimes even in highly monitored and policed zones in Australia. Laws are not enough to prevent and protect Australia from the increase in gang activity. Australian police and lawmakers should also look at countries such as the USA, where OMCG crime is even higher by copying the same successful tactics to prevent gang crime. Australian police should be able to combat and prevent organised crime. Some ideas include strict curfews in specific urban areas, high police awareness in identified gang areas, and anti-loitering laws.