B.C. WANTS TO BAN GANG COLOURS

Solicitor-General John Les Says He Is Watching The Outcome Of A Legal
Challenge To Such A Law In Manitoba

The B.C. government wants to ban the wearing of gang emblems, stripes
and colours in bars and restaurants.

Solicitor-General John Les said in an interview Friday that he is
closely watching the outcome of legal challenges to a Manitoba law
which imposes such a ban.

If the Manitoba legislation stands challenges, Les intends to
introduce similar legislation in B.C.

"I will employ any tool that is useful," said Les, who finds it
infuriating that groups such as the Hells Angels, which have been
linked to criminal activity, can publicly flaunt their colours and
insignias.

The Hells Angels are perhaps most famous for their patch, affixed on
jackets and vests, which features a skull with a wing attached.

"A few weeks ago I was driving down the freeway, not far from where I
live, and about 30 of these bikers blew by, all wearing their Hells
Angels regalia. It really got my back up. They are really flaunting
it," he said.

The Manitoba legislation was brought in under the Liquor Control Act
in late 2002. At the same time, the province brought in legislation
aimed at organized crime groups and gangs, which allows a judge to
shut down a business if the owner or manager permits it to be used to
advance unlawful activity.

Les said he would like to have similar rules in place in B.C.
immediately.

"But, when it's under judicial review in another province, I would
prefer to wait, rather than doing wheel-spinning of our own," he said.

Bikers are the main groups to wear patches, but some youth gangs adopt
colours -- usually blue or red -- modelling themselves after U.S. gangs.

Attention has again been focused on the Hells Angels after Chris
Swann, a Hells Angel associate who was hoping to get into a police
witness protection program, was shot to death this week in front of
his home near Qualicum Bay.

The overt presence of the Hells Angels in communities such as Nanaimo
is a concern, Les said.

"We have to ensure our citizens feel safe in their communities," he
said.

"We want to get rid of that kind of brazen presence in the
communities. That to me is entirely unacceptable."

The province is already putting its efforts into fighting organized
crime through the $10 million a year it pumps into the gang task
force, increased integration of police forces and rejigging of the
former Organized Crime Agency into the Combined Forces Special
Enforcement Unit, Les said.

CFSEU is an integrated team of RCMP and municipal police officers
whose mandate is to investigate, dismantle and disrupt organized crime.

Last year the province contributed an extra $122 million to policing
and there are now 400 more police officers in B.C. than there were
three years ago, Les said.

"A lot of criminal activity is rooted in the drug trade and the drug
trade is, to a degree, rooted in organized crime such as the Hells
Angels and some of the other criminal elements," he said.

"I am optimistic that we are getting a handle on it, but I'm not as
naive as to think we are going to run them out of town. . . . We are
going to make their lives in B.C. a lot more difficult."

However, Leonard Krog, NDP critic and Nanaimo MLA, said the government
is not putting enough money into combating organized crime and
white-collar crime, and is spending too much time and money on minor
street-level problems.

"They're going after panhandlers and the poor on our streets instead
of concentrating on the big stuff," he said.

The overt presence of the Hells Angels in Nanaimo is a strong
community concern and Swann's death will exacerbate the worry, Krog
said.

Meanwhile, Fred Widdifield, a member of the Nanaimo Hells Angels,
confirmed that Swann was an acquaintance of some Angels, but said he
was not closely connected to the club.

Widdifield said he believes Swann was making up stories about the
Hells Angels to get money from the RCMP.