Chairman's June Report

With the 25th Annual NCOM Convention in Florida now over and our people back home, I am sure we will see some really informative reports about what is going on in the Motorcycling arena very soon.

From some of the initial report I have received it was a really good conference and a hot topic from many states was something we are currently dealing with here in Arizona, Motorcycle Clubs and Colors. Last month in my Chairman’s letter I wrote about an annual report put out by the AZ Criminal Justice Commission.  The report states that In Arizona, authorities predominantly track three types of gangs: one of them being Motorcycle Gangs.

This month I have more information about how Law enforcement views Motorcyclists particularly those associated with Motorcycle Clubs. I had been told about outlaw biker 101 and know some one who said they participated in this when he was still in law enforcement here in Arizona, but I never actually found any thing in print about it until now.

Outlaw biker 101, a yearly gathering of law enforcement officers from across the country at a heavily guarded secret location for annual training on “combating biker gangs”. As quoted directly from promotional material for the course: “Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigations: From the Inside - Combating Biker Gangs, from the International Association of Undercover Officers:  A five-day (36 hour) training program for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, corrections personnel and criminal analysts addressing the problems and pitfalls of investigations of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

The instructors, have managed, supervised or directly participated in investigations of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs throughout the United States. The investigative techniques they used will be presented. Also, the many pitfalls and mistakes they made will be graphically demonstrated.

Due to the sensitive nature of the training program and threats of physical harm to some of the speakers, the exact location of the training program will only be revealed to those who register. Special security will be maintained and only certified law enforcement officers with proper identification will be admitted.”

Apparently Minnesota Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) attorney Steven O’Brien, who also serves as legal counsel to the Confederation of Clubs of Minnesota and ABATE of Minnesota, applied for the course last year but was denied admittance. Along with his denial to the course was a written admonishment that he would be better suited to attend the NCOM Convention?

It comes as no surprise that O’Brien was denied enrollment, since he was instrumental in getting the nation’s first and only biker anti-discrimination law on the books in Minnesota, and then was successful in getting the new law upheld by the courts when an ABATE member was denied service at a bar.

In recent months it has been reported that Law enforcement has been experimenting with the monitoring of bikers through use of Drones. Drones are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) equipped with low-light, infrared cameras. These cameras are capable from just a few hundred feet in the air- to identify faces. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, The Huston PD and one North Carolina County Sheriffs Department have already used them (UAV’s) to monitor gatherings of motorcycle riders.

Even though these reports of domestic UAV use are isolated they do exist, and it is reasonable to assume that the usage of these unmanned systems is likely spread throughout the U.S., which provokes and raises not only privacy concerns, but also safety concerns because of the possibility of collisions with commercial and private aircraft. And while drones are considered pervasive government surveillance, and voiding of citizens' rights, there are other surveillances going on every day that most do not even know about.

For instance Arizona uses Automated License Plate Recognition and DPS alone has scanned more than 1.9 million plates since introducing its first cameras in 2006. DPS is not the only Agency to use this system, Mesa, Phoenix, Avondale, Tucson, Yuma and Tempe also use it, there maybe other I just don’t know about them at this time. How does ALPR work? Infrared units mounted to the front of patrol cars scan the license plates of everyone who drives past; every plate is photographed, time-stamped, labeled on a GPS map and automatically logged into an Arizona Department of Public Safety database. An electronic voice alerts to stolen vehicles within seconds after they pass.

While this technology has been lauded as more than a tool to thwart car thieves. DPS claims its program has the potential to intercept violent criminals and Amber Alert suspects also. Some lawmakers and activists raise questions about the invasion of privacy for the average citizens whose plates are scanned. Plate readers were introduced as an auto-theft deterrent, but investigators are using the cameras to create a virtual Arizona crime map, widening the scope beyond stolen vehicles, logging the daily locations of thousands of automobiles.

As plate-readers have become a resource for law enforcement agencies, they have also been confronted with public resistance from those who fear the technology threatens the civil rights of law-abiding citizens. While some people see this technology as an invasion of privacy, law enforcement down plays the scenario, saying the plates are public information seen on public streets. Yet DPS representatives have been quoted as saying the potential to solve crimes with the system far outweighs privacy concerns.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard has met with DPS to discuss how to manage the vast amount of data without treading on motorists' civil liberties or limiting the technology's crime-fighting potential. Alessandra Meetze, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said she is concerned about how police technology could outpace legal standards. "The problem is there is no reassurance it's going to be focused on the bad guys," Meetze said.

Arizona legislators have tried to provide guidance on how to regulate the technology since Mesa police pioneered Arizona's first plate-readers in 2005. Sen. Pamela Gorman, introduced a bill in 2007 that suggested DPS should dispose of license-plate images within 24 hours unless the data is tied to an ongoing investigation. The bill went nowhere.  Rep. Jerry Weiers, introduced legislation to help fight license-plate fraud.

When is enough – enough? With all the existing technologies — GPS-enabled cellular phones, OnStar Navigation systems, red light cameras, and speed cameras—having another technology used to potentially track our day-to-day movements is troubling to most.

The most frequently cited drawback from privacy advocates, is authorities will use the readers to track the movements of law-abiding people, a risk they say will grow as the devices drop in price. Americans shouldn't have to take extra precautions to prevent the government from seeing what they are doing every Thursday night.

Ride like you are invisible because to most motorists’ you are.

Tom Corr