The activities of bikie gangs have nothing to do with love of motorbikes anymore, but are based around illegal

activities such as drug distribution. Groups that were once hobby clubs have become violent, unlawful gangs. Unfortunately the violence looks unlikely to fade away anytime soon. Bikie gang expert and criminologist Arthur Veno, a professor at Monash University, says the step-up in violence is happening because of the rise of Notorious, a younger gang that has muscled in on established gangs' turf in Sydney. "This new gang doesn't have the traditional rules of engagement that the bikies share among themselves," he says. "The war has broadened from a simple battle over the issue of the drug pyramid. It has now spilled into the long-term connections between gangs and has allowed old conflicts to arise." Veno says the gangs had been trying to broker a peace to head off the plans for new laws banning their existence. "The Notorious gang has made an outrageous move of hitting people coming from peace talks that could have saved their bacon." The government of New South Wales has now established a task force of 75 officers to track the bike gang s activities. Over the past six months, 185 gang members and associates have been charged with 572 offenses, mostly relating to violence, drugs and weapons. Despite their efforts, it evidently doesn t seem to be helping. This is not the first time gang-related violence has shocked Australia. In the parking lot of a tavern in Western Sydney 25 years ago, the fierce Comancheros and the Bandidos lashed at each other in a shoot-out that left seven people, including a female bystander, dead and the local community shocked. This was simply outrageous, unneeded and repulsive, but I can assure you, nothings changed. Australians hope those days haven't returned, yet now my friends, we now have good reasons to believe that this violent situation will only get worse.

An article on a story which isn t getting better, let alone going away.

t doesn t come as a surprise that outlaw bikie

gangs in Australia are causing havoc yet again. This violent behaviour comes from gangs such as the Comanchero, Rebels, Hells Angels, Bandidos and Notorious. How can we live being scared for our safety and worried for our welfare? An Australian Crime Commission report this year revealed that 3,300 outlaw motorcycle-gang members are active in Australia, with 19 of 39 gangs operating in New South Wales alone. We see feud after feud between the gangs, who formerly had a code where their bloody conduct would be perpetrated without publicity. They did not conduct their criminal activities at home, or at work or in front of women and children. Well what happened to this? However, the latest death of Hells Angels member, Anthony Zervas was a wild brawl which raged through the Sydney Domestic Airport in broad daylight. The killing was just one of a series of shootings and murders stemming from a hatred that exists between the two gangs. Law enforcement agencies have very little control over these gangs which work outside the law. As a result, police are seeking stricter laws to allow them to crack down on violent behaviour and focus on stopping the constant brawling, which must eventually impact on the innocent public. Don t you think this is a bit rich? It s not that police don t lave laws in place to be able to stop this, perhaps it s that they re not doing enough themselves.