COLEMAN PAINTS AN UNFLATTERING PICTURE OF HELLS ANGELS

Solicitor General Rich Coleman may be getting tough on crime in general,
but his strongest declarations during a speech at a Delta Chamber of
Commerce luncheon this week were reserved for the Hells Angels.

"They are the franchise of organized crime in this province," he told the
crowd of business people, an audience which included senior officers from
Delta police and the nearby Richmond RCMP detachment.

"There's a group of people out there called the Hells Angels and they'll
probably be delivering toys out to UBC soon, but these people don't care
about your community," Coleman said, referring to the gang's annual
Christmas toy run.

Calling marijuana grow operations a foundation by which organized crime
builds its enterprise, Coleman warned business owners that organized
criminal gangs, through grow-op profits, infiltrate legitimate businesses
by underbidding on contracts and investing in businesses.

"As they go forward, they destroy your community," he said, adding he's
frustrated by the public's attitude, including politicians, of a tacit
tolerance of biker gangs. "They're not nice little rebels on bikes," he said.

The provincial Liberals, led by Coleman, are hoping to introduce
legislation in the spring session that will make it easier for police to
seize assets from the proceeds of crime using certain provincial tax laws.
The idea is to put the onus on the suspect to prove he got the house, boat,
or whatever the item may be, by legitimate means.

"It's a bold step and we expect to be challenged in court," Coleman told
the audience gathered at the Tsawwassen Inn Thursday.

Ontario and Alberta are moving in the same direction with similar laws,
Coleman added.

The solicitor general also spoke of the need to integrate enforcement in
areas such as forensic identification, homicide and sex crimes. He said
that doesn't mean the badge will be taken off the shoulder of Delta police,
but argues that crime has no borders, especially serious crime.

Coleman lauded the benefits of PRIME, a computer information gathering
system that will give police officers real-time crime data.

"It's a breakthrough," he said. "There's no other jurisdiction in Canada or
the U.S. that I can find that's doing this."

Coleman said with PRIME, data will be available to every officer in the
province. That means the traditional boundaries between police agencies
will be broken down.

PRIME is expected to be available province-wide by next year.