1% BIKERS

The Evolution of the Outlaw

Extreme

Jim Quinn, Ph.D.

University of North Texas

Context & background

History
Organizational dynamics
Biker Crime & Its Control
Dialectic of prosecution
Rivera vs. Carter, et al.
Conclusions
Moral & strategic dilemmas
Control suggestions
 CONTEXT &
BACKGROUND
History
Organizational Dynamics

A Brief History (dates approximate)

1947: subculture emerges
1958-1969: Modern clubs appear
Product of US mobility culture
1965- 1975: Turf wars consolidate big 4
Organized Crime appears to fund wars
Limited HA international chapters
1947 c.1978: Police concerns were reactive
Crowd control & Street crime investigations
1979-Present: Organized crime Prosecutions
 History Continued
1975-95: entrepreneurialism transforms subculture
Drug war> legal pressure>meaner mobsters
Early prosecutions based on defectors/ex-members
1980- 1995: war mentality extended to law
enforcers
fewer field contacts but more prosecutions
1980- Present: International Expansion Wars
Undercover penetrations in US
Sophistication increases

Organizationally Unique
Core value POWER of all types
Gang-like loyalty, rivalries, import of small,
closed social world, intense symbolism
Militaristic (also a weapons &skill source)
Intense war mentality & hyper-masculine
competition?
Club viewed as nation, democracy of a tribe
Rational corporate structure of Club & some
members enterprises
 Value Systems in Tension
Traditional or Purist biker:
Impulsive, honor-bound, hedonistic
Sect-like loyalty, life based on club
Bikes & related skills paramount
Club solidarity - One for all, all for one
Entrepreneurial biker:
Rational, profit oriented
Club is a network & logistical support
calculated media imagery
Dominant since mid 1980s

Purist Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurial Superpowers

Mixed Purist-Entrepreneurs
Expansion Franchises (cartels)
Most established after 1980
Entirely entrepreneurial
Little loyalty to club & brothers
Power is main concern, NOT bikes
Lack of common interest
undermines integration into club,
subculture

BIKER CRIME & ITS

CONTROL
Organizations of Criminals more than
Organized Crime H. Abadinsky
Umbrella groups for organized criminals &
gang warfare syndicates
 The Bikers Milieu Is Relatively Small
There are only a few, easily bridged,
degrees of separation between clubs &
other violent stateless groups
Especially mobsters, neo-Nazis
Ethnic (Italian, Russian) mobsters
often have regional influence
(e.g., NJ Pagan-HAMC war)

Chronic War Mentality

Builds solidarity, hostility & paranoia
Intense, socially isolated milieu
Amplifies violence & hedonism
Excuses violations of subcultural norms
Worst violence within the club
Special forces veterans sought
Inter-club Relations
Purist clubs (Outlaws, Pagans) losing
power to entrepreneurs (HA, Bandidos)
HAMC is sophisticated, ferocious &
elitist
Seeks subcultural hegemony
all against all & all against the HA
My enemys enemy can be my ally
(albeit briefly & in a limited way)

International Views:
Perception of threat varies
US has many types of organized crime,
Canada only a few
1%ers more salient to CA authorities
Canadian bikers worked for mobs
1994 Prosecutions decimated Quebec
mobs >> 1%ers stepped into void
PR & legal warfare
US authorities value secrecy
CLUBS & THE POLICE
Social distance between conservatism
of most law enforcers & 1%er hedonism/
libertinism
Prosecution difficulties create frustration
Top quality legal defense teams
Insularity increases with each penetration
Greater agency powers sought

POLICE RESPONSE OFTEN

POLITICALLY DRIVEN
Haste to end war >
Police focus on weaker club >
Entrepreneurs strengthened >
Subcultural core values
(fraternal ethos) weakened
Chapters, Factions & Cliques
Chapter: established by National/World
leadership for a given area
Faction: large number of bikers with common
interest
Geographic, Entrepreneurial, ideological or personal loyalties

Cliques: Small number of men united by

fraternal & entrepreneurial bonds
usually within same region but may spread across a
nation/continent

Crime & Power Structures

Formal club decisions are in hierarchy of
World/national, regional and chapter officers-
especially interclub warfare
e.g., Hellraisers ball
(relatively) Spontaneous violence at large
events is often factional (e.g., Laughlin)
Most criminal enterprises operate thru cliques
e.g., Lindsay-Bonner case
 THE DIALECTIC OF
PROSECUTION

Each groups experience is

intensely studied & used by allies
& enemies

Accelerates structural evolution

The Biker Response

Scrutiny of new members increased
Internal controls more ruthless
Counter-surveillance measures increased
Chapters quickly rebuilt with out of town
members selected for organization-building
skills, ruthlessness
Enterprises grow more robust, widespread
Little long term impact on vice markets
Effects on Crime
More interaction with other criminal entities
Dependence on experts/lawyers increased
financial needs crime & financial needs in
vicious cycle
Drugs, prostitution, stolen goods, extortion,
gambling . . . White collar/stocks/gambling
Modern bikers are far more likely to undermine
the legal system than to attack its practitioners
Intimidation common however

LAWS: Each modeled on the earlier

one
US reliance on increasing severity
U.S.: RICO
CANADA: C-95 & C-23
South Australian Serious & Organized
Crime Act
 Anti-Biker laws fail & threaten rights
Vague definitions of organized crime
wide discretionary powers to deem organizations 'criminal'
Limit or eliminate appeals process
Allows Guilt by association

Drive clubs underground

No impact on crime

Their threat may have reversed trend toward public

violence in Scandinavian wars

US ATF vs. Mongols MC, 2008

RICO used to seize the clubs "intellectual
property - the Mongols patch & name
bikes also seized w/ little controversy
Initially the courts support ATF, allowed any
patch or other logo to be seized
Rivera vs. Carter, et al., Case No.2:09-cv-
2435-FMC-VBKx
The Govt case: Section 1963 of RICO
Persons convicted under RICO forfeit . . .
rights to any property or proceeds
obtained directly or indirectly, from
racketeering activity.
Intent is to attack economic roots of
organized crime
Unique in use of former club President
(Cavazos) as alter ego of club
 Trademarks Protected
a trademark is a symbol of collective membership
not a copyright

Can be seized ONLY if their use is injurious to

owner.
No such harm could be shown, even if US was
owner
Judge reversed own decision: defendants did not
own trademark the group did.
The indicted members thus could not forfeit them
Trademark rights are never subject to forfeiture

CONCLUSIONS
Moral & strategic dilemmas
Control suggestions
 Moral Panic Or Bona Fide Threat
Panic used to expand police powers in Australia &
Canada
Severe response easiest political remedy
RCMP engaged in overt Public Relations warfare
Each takes serious steps towards undermining civil
rights
Ethics of police use of informants increasingly
questionable (e.g., Operation Black Biscuit)

Undercover stings the modal approach

now
CRIME ATTRIBUTABLE TO BIKIE
GANGS AS A PROPORTION OF TOTAL
CRIME IS EXTREMELY LOW - LESS
THAN 1%,
A. VENO, Australia.

But, the revulsion of police & the

attraction of the media is large

The Moral-Strategic Dilemmas

Best Controlled As Other Quasi-legal
Organizations
Tax & money tracking laws
Independent Anti-corruption commissions
Confederation of Clubs
Tolerance of human pleasure-seeking
undermines organized crime
BUT
this a strategic investment that requires
patience & perseverance.