Driving home to Cochrane from Calgary on May 29, I saw the large number of motorcyclists, and the more than 20 police cruisers in their midst.
“Interesting,” I thought. Later I saw on the Cochrane Eagle Facebook page that it was the Hell’s Angels and I thought, “that explains all the police.” To me it was very rational that there would be a lot of police presence if a notorious gang was on a rally and stopping at various locales along the way. Expected, actually.
Then I went on to read the many rude, and often inane comments, on the page about the police “harassment” of these bikers. They were just stopping for ice cream. How crazy for our government to “waste taxpayers’ money” by monitoring the activities of a known gang, to actually make things uncomfortable for these poor people.
Most of the comments were not worth giving credence to; there will always be “cop haters” and nothing police do will ever be respected by those with such narrow minds, but it surprised me how many people actually sided more with a group of people who had allegiances to a gang with a deep-rooted history of violence and illegal activity, than with the police officers doing their jobs.
I didn’t hear of police brutality or inappropriate behaviour – basically just a very large presence. Was it excessive? Fifty officers, 20 cruisers, a helicopter? Maybe. But is that not better than pretending we don’t care at all that a gang is gathering in our town? This was not just a group of motorcyclists out for their Saturday cruise – this was The Hell’s Angels. I’m not saying that they had any heinous intentions with our small town but this is still a group of people who have made a conscious decision to be in a gang.
They wear their logos proudly on their jackets and they did not earn the right to wear these logos simply because they are bike riders. Being members of the Hell’s Angels, they are obviously aware of their gang’s “business,” their “credo,” and their history. If these people are proud of their gang allegiance, frankly, I think they should expect to be made to feel uncomfortable when they congregate in our town. It is no secret that the Hell’s Angels are on the police radar, and so they should be. The fact that this gang has also done some charitable works does not diminish the fact that they are more known for their illegal activities. If folks just want to join a riding group, there are many other alternatives that don’t attract police attention!
The police anti-gang units and drug units work hard to infiltrate these organizations and, ultimately, to disband these groups. This doesn’t just happen on TV on Sons of Anarchy, it happens across our country in every city. It should be expected of, and even the duty of, our police force to ensure that these groups do not feel too comfortable in our towns, whether it’s passing through for ice cream, renting halls and setting up chapter meetings, or whatever their ultimate intentions may be.
Sure, it all seems harmless – they look like your dentist, your banker, your grandparents, or the two funny front men from ZZ TOP – but they are, as I said, gang members, who have pledged an allegiance to a group with a long history of violence and illegal activity.
I for one, applaud the police for taking this seriously and not minimizing any form of gang activity. In the end, we are all ultimately safer because of it.
Laurie Lakeman
