Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs and Street Gangs by Tereza Kuldova & Martín Sánchez-Jankowski

Author:Tereza Kuldova & Martín Sánchez-Jankowski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Limitations of Focusing on Outlaw Biker Clubs as a Group

The focus on, and labeling of outlaw biker clubs as organized crime groups may have unintended negative side-effects or limitations. First of all, Blokland et al. note that the multi-agency approach to outlaw biker clubs in the Netherlands nowadays has not led to a (desired) decrease of outlaw biker clubs (Blokland et al. 2017a, b). Ironically, the numbers of members, chapters and new clubs have only increased. The same is true for other European countries (Europol 2012).

In the context of an increasingly diverse composite and growing number of outlaw biker clubs, which are nowadays broadly labeled as organized crime groups, it should be underlined that research shows the importance of distinguishing between the nature and seriousness of committed crimes, the frequency of convictions of individual bikers, the rank and number of criminally active bikers in a club. It should be emphasized that—despite findings of many and lengthy criminal records—not all individuals, chapters or clubs are inherently criminal (Wolf 1991; Blokland et al. 2014; Barker 2014; Klement 2016). It is therefore dangerous to apply a zero-tolerance strategy that is aimed at not only prosecuting criminal individuals, but also excluding the broader (outlaw) biker milieu from the public space (Blokland et al. 2017b). Apart from legal issues with regard to discriminatory measures (Bjorgo 2016), the integrated approach toward all (outlaw) biker clubs might be counterproductive and result in empathy for bikers being portrayed as inherently antisocial and deviant human beings. For example, the Dutch Veterans MC and Black Sheep MC have been formally taken off the ‘outlaw motorcycle gang’ list from the Ministry of Security and Justice , after having been found ‘not criminal’ but having been labeled as an outlaw motorcycle gang for years (NOS 2016).

More importantly, the focus on outlaw biker clubs as criminal groups may prevent authorities from looking beyond the structure and organization of a club. As research on organized crime developed over the past decades, a large body of literature established the importance of social networks and crime opportunities in offending (Kleemans and De Poot 2008; Morselli 2009; Von Lampe 2016). Viewing an outlaw biker club as a separate entity, which places itself outside of regular society, does no justice to the dynamic field it operates in and the various relations members maintain inside and outside of the biker milieu.

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