NCJ Number
112974
Journal
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Gazette Volume: 49 Issue: 5 Dated: (1987) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
D Day
Date Published
1987
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This special issue describes the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada Project Focus and provides extensive information on outlaw motorcycle gangs and their activities.
Abstract
Project Focus serves as a national repository for the storage, analysis, and retrieval of all information on such gangs, develops regional and provincial overviews, and monitors gang status using data supplied by field investigators. To update police personnel on new intelligence information and changing biker images and tactics, this issue provides an overview that covers myths about gangs, a history of outlaw gangs in the United States, and an outlaw biker profile that emphasizes bikers' conformity to a distinct subculture with a sociopathic outlook on life. The national and local organization and structure of outlaw motorcycle gangs are described; membership criteria are delineated; and the significance of biker colors, tattoos, and patches are discussed. Biker feast days, or runs, are described, and guidelines for police dealing with runs are provided. Major motorcycle gangs in Canada and the United States are identified. Also discussed are outlaw biker clubs, boozecans (drug and alcohol dispensing clubs), weapons, and the role of women. Biker wars, stresses, suicides, and death rituals also are described. Profiles of gangs in the various provinces are provided. The increasing involvement of these gangs in organized criminal activity is noted.