Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) are organizations whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises. OMGs are highly structured criminal organizations whose members engage in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking.
The world of motorcycle gangs consists of diverse members with different backgrounds, but one thing that unites them is the love for riding motorcycles. Veteran motorcycle gang members enjoy getting together to ride motorcycles and maintain their bikes. They invite new riders to join them in hopes that they will find the same joy as they do.
According to the National Youth Gang Center, “the most effective response to youth gangs is a combination of interdependent prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies, selected by a community to target its emerging or chronic gang problems, which have been identified by a comprehensive, systematic assessment.”
Law enforcement suppression strategies and intensive services target and rehabilitate the most violent gangs and older, criminally active gang members. For more information about why youths join gangs and gang prevention strategies, the bulletin is available in full (PDF, 24 Pages).
While organizations may vary, the typical internal organization of a motorcycle club consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, road captain, and sergeant-at-arms (sometimes known as enforcer).
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) are organizations whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises. OMGs are highly structured criminal organizations whose members engage in criminal activities such as violent crime, weapons trafficking, and drug trafficking.
Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been a thorn in the side of US law enforcement since the 1960s. Today, these dangerous organizations are engaged in criminal activities on both coasts and throughout the American heartland.
Some outlaw motorcycle clubs can be distinguished by a 1% patch worn on the colors. This is claimed to be a reference to a comment made by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) in which they stated that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying that the last one percent were outlaws.
A 81 supporter is anyone, of any gender, age, motorcyclist or not, who has enthusiasm and admiration for Hells Angels Motorcycle Club World and its philosophy of life. If you have any of these features, you may already be considered a 81 supporter.
The Sons of Silence are designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and at one point were considered one of the "big five" motorcycle gangs along with the Bandidos, Hells Angels, Outlaws and Pagans.
Old Lady. This is a term of endearment for a biker's girlfriend or wife. If a biker refers to his lady as such, you'll know to keep your paws off.
In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the "H.A.", "Red & White", "HAMC", and "81". With a membership between 3,000 and 3,600 and 467 chapters in 59 countries, the HAMC is the largest motorcycle club in the world.
Most Hells Angels members are white males who ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Each is known by a “legal,” or official, name, which may be a colourful nickname. Membership status is tightly controlled.
The Angels differentiated themselves from society by kissing each other on the mouth as a greeting and an opportunity to shock passers-by. The bikers' kisses became immortalized in Hunter S.
The letter M, being the 13th letter of the alphabet, often is said to stand for marijuana or motorcycle. Generally, it is assumed someone wearing a 13 patch is either a user of marijuana or other drugs, or is involved with the sale of them. The M also has been known to stand for "methamphetamine".
The diamond still exists as an outlaw motorcycle patch to symbolize outlaw status in the modern sense- outside of the laws of society and the police. Even if you still feel like rocking the unlucky number 13, stay away from wearing a Diamond 13 as it might have a deeper meaning for patched-in MC members.
Motorcycle gang members have been an integral part of the motorcycle culture since the 1950s. The culture, lifestyle, and beliefs of the motorcycle gang culture are often closely linked to the larger subculture of the outlaw motorcycle gang and Hells Angels.
Motorcycle gangs, or “biker gangs,” consist of all-male groups that have a common interest in motorcycles. They often have a code of conduct and a government structure. Gangs vary in size from small one to large groups with well organized cells that can be in constant contact with each other.
Over the course of 60 years, there have been many changes in gang culture and motorcycle gangs. In the 60s and 70s motorcycle gangs had a different role in society. A lot of things were going on for these gangs such as an increase in recruitment and initiation events such as robberies and assaults.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, motorcycle gangs were a common sight in US society. With a sense of independence and freedom from societal norms, these groups became a popular form of emotional release. However, as time progressed, so did society.
Over the past few decades, motorcycle gangs have had to adjust their tactics in order to survive. The continued enforcement of anti-gang legislation and the rise of social media has forced these groups to evolve. Their new methods are still illegal, but more subtle than before.
Each year, there are many motorcycle gang-related deaths in the United States. The majority of these deaths, however, are not caused by direct gang violence. Instead, much of the danger that these gangs pose is due to gang members who commit crimes such as drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
Strategies to Address Gang Crime: A Guidebook for Local Law Enforcement provides information about developing and enhancing local law enforcement responses to gangs in their jurisdictions. The focus of the guidebook is on the use of problem-solving strategies to help agencies select the interventions most appropriate for their jurisdictions. In particular, the guidebook describes the SARA model (Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment), a strategic problem-solving process that local law enforcement can apply to its local gang problem. Growing evidence (Dalton, 2004) shows that applying the SARA model will greatly improve the law enforcement response to gangs and will lead to safer communities.
Some definitions of a gang specify the minimum number of members who meet a number of other criteria. The second element in defining gangs is the use of symbols . Gang symbols can take a number of forms, including hand signs, tattoos, clothes, and certain ways of wearing clothes. Communication can take place through the use of such symbols. The National Gang Targeting, Enforcement & Coordination Center (GangTECC) (www.usdoj.gov/criminal/gangtecc) and the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC)(www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm), can assist local law enforcement agencies in identifying their specific gang problem.
Law enforcement data will provide a picture of the most criminally active part of the gang problem and may miss a larger group of individuals who are just beginning their involvement with gangs and may be appropriate targets for prevention or intervention . When law enforcement data are used for this purpose (whether from computer aided dispatch [CAD], RMS, or detective notes) it is important to assess the validity of those identifications and whether they accurately and reliably reflect gang membership. It may be appropriate to work with schools, juvenile court, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (OJJDP, 1999), recreation centers, and other groups that serve youths to obtain a fuller picture of the local gang problem. If the only data source used comes from law enforcement, it is likely that responses crafted from that information will have a suppression orientation and ignore many important prevention or intervention components. For example, as Curry and Decker (2003) show, law enforcement estimates of the number of girls in gangs is much lower than that obtained when students are sampled. To use only one source of data—law enforcement in this instance—would be to miss a substantial part of the overall gang problem. Many projects have obtained useful information by interviewing active gang members, a practice described by Decker (2005) in the COPS Oce POP Guide,
central premise of this guidebook is that gang problems are local, even if they have national aliations, and that solutions based on careful analysis must be crafted in response to a solid, accurate, and complete picture of the local problem. One of the most effective tools for a law enforcement analysis of local problems is the SARA process. This model is well-established in police practice as an excellent tool for developing a local response to problems and continually monitoring the extent to which that response is addressing the problem effectively. It is a versatile tool with broad applicability. A large body of literature discussing the SARA process is available to law enforcement. Boba (2003), Bynum (2001), Clarke and Eck (2003), and Schmerler, Perkins, Phillips, Rinehart, and Townsend (2006) describe the SARA process in logical, step-by-step descriptions. Clarke and Eck (2003) describe the four steps in the process as follows:
Prevention has been a component of responses to gangs for at least a century. The goal of prevention is to stop youths from joining gangs. Prevention responses, therefore, are targeted at the largest segment of the problem: youths at risk for gang membership and youths in the general population, often in elementary or middle schools.
Scanning is the first step in the SARA process. During the scanning phase it is important to identify recurring problems that concern the police and the public and to understand their consequences. In this case, gang crime, gang drug dealing, or groups of youths hanging out and disturbing the community may be identified as the problem, but the consequences are wider-reaching and may include such things as disrupted trac, increased violence, disorder in neighborhoods, or increased public fear of crime. Once the problems and their consequences have been identified and given a high priority, it is necessary to determine if problems are indeed gang-related. After all, not all drug dealing, violence, or disorder problems in a community are caused by gangs. Gang-related problems may call for a different set of solutions than problems that do not have gang activity at their core.
Once a problem has been identified and analyzed, the next step is to develop a response . One of the biggest challenges in using any problem-solving model is to not rush ahead and skip the scanning and analysis stages of the model. Similarly, it is important not to fall into the common trap of using an agency’s existing responses. Most agencies have a traditional set of responses (their toolkit, so to speak) that they rely on for responding to most problems. The commonly used phrase, “if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail” certainly applies in this case. An explicit goal of the problem-solving model is to break away from the limitations of prior practices and implement new responses to problems, responses that are tied closely to the nature of the problem.
Who will benefit from this school: This course is designed for Officers/Detectives/Agents and Supervisors assigned to Narcotics, Gangs, Intelligence, or Specialized Units that investigate OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE GANGS.#N#Course Description: This 3-day (27-hour) training was designed to complement the beginning and experienced investigator. The training is presented from two points of view. The first portion addresses the Detective or Agent perspective; those who investigate crimes typically committed by members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. The second portion assumes the investigative position from the “inside”. In a deep undercover assignment, Dave spent almost four years as a member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Dave’s philosophy is to train investigators from the perspective of an actual member of the gang. Using his ‘inside out’ approach, Dave seeks to pass on knowledge that will contribute to officer safety, unforeseen circumstances and concurrently offer a unique perspective leading to more successful undercover operations when dealing with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.#N#This "pay it forward" type of training has come from Dave’s 20 years of instruction and his 25 years of experience. Having trained over 12,000 undercover personnel both internationally and nationally, Dave’s goal is to provide crucial information to others in an effort to make sure every officer, detective or agent goes home to their loved ones each and every night#N#The training covers: This training covers: the history of the major outlaw motorcycle gangs both nationally and internationally, the club culture, the hierarchy of clubs, recruitment of new members, effective recruitment and utilization of informants, L.E. misconceptions of OMG’s, women in the OMG world, OMG’s attempts to gather public support, the criminal activity of the OMG, weapons of the OMG and where they carry them, OMGs vs Police clubs.#N#From the “Inside out”: techniques to infiltrate the OMG, identifying the unique issues associated with an infiltration, psychological challenges of working undercover in an OMG, backstopping needed for undercover operations, risk management of undercover operations, examine key issues in the supervision of an OMG undercover operation, short term vs long term undercover operations, and unique concerns with female undercover deployment in OMG investigations.
The first portion addresses the Detective or Agent perspective; those who investigate crimes typically committed by members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. The second portion assumes the investigative position from the “inside”.
In a deep undercover assignment, Dave spent almost four years as a member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Dave’s philosophy is to train investigators from the perspective of an actual member of the gang. Using his ‘inside out’ approach, Dave seeks to pass on knowledge that will contribute to officer safety, unforeseen circumstances ...
Intervention programs and strategies provide sanctions and services for younger youth who are actively involved in gangs to push them away from gangs. Law enforcement suppression strategies and intensive services target and rehabilitate the most violent gangs and older, criminally active gang members.
To prevent youth from joining gangs, communities must strengthen families and schools, improve community supervision, train teachers and parents to manage disruptive youth, and teach students interpersonal skills. No programs have been developed specifically to prevent gangs from emerging.
Providing interpersonal skills training to students to help resolve conflicts. Providing a center for youth recreation and referrals for services. Providing gang awareness training for school personnel, parents, and students. Teaching students that gangs can be dangerous.
Youth join gangs for protection, enjoyment, respect, money, or because a friend is in a gang. Youth are at higher risk of joining a gang if they engage in delinquent behaviors, are aggressive or violent, experience multiple caretaker transitions, have many problems at school, associate with other gang-involved youth, ...
Since the mid-20th century, gang violence in this country has become widespread—all 50 states and the District of Columbia report gang problems, and reports have increased for 5 of the past 7 years.
Prevention programs target youth at risk of gang involvement and help reduce the number of youth who join gangs.