Lethbridge’s police chief says Hells Angels members will be monitored closely following the outlaw motorcycle gang’s establishment of a new chapter in the southern Alberta city.
“When you have a criminal organization setting roots in any community, there’s always concern for public safety and the safety of our citizens,” said Lethbridge Police Service Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh during an interview with Postmedia.
“We are certainly going to be making sure we can manage their presence here and deal with any issues the way we have to as they come up.”
While Hells Angels has opened a new chapter in Lethbridge, Mehdizadeh said they were already “influencing criminal activities” in the city.
“They’re right here in our backyard, but their reach goes far, and that’s why all over the country and many other countries where Hells Angels exist there is a significant amount of police resources and intelligence that monitor their activities.
“When feasible and when evidence is there, enforcement actions will be brought upon their members.”
The Hells Angels likely wanted to set up shop in Lethbridge to have a presence in the south end of the province, said Mehdizadeh.
“Sometimes their presence causes an issue with level of violence with their rival gangs,” he said.
But it’s too early to say what impact the Hells Angels will have on Lethbridge, said Mehdizadeh
“We’re going to continue to make sure we have good intelligence and are aware of their activities to the best of our ability,” said Lethbridge’s police chief.
Police did 100 checks of licensed establishments, where, under the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act, police may remove gang members. Police asked about 50 gang members in all to leave, and in each case they left without incident.
Lethbridge also hosted the annual Street Machine Weekend Friday to Sunday, and police monitored that event too, removing five impaired drivers from the road, laying seven Criminal Code charges, doling out 154 violation tickets and issuing more than 50 warnings.
“For the most part, it was pretty good, and we managed to keep things as safe as we could for the weekend and let people enjoy their time here,” said Mehdizadeh.
Mount Royal University criminologist Kelly Sundberg said the Hells Angels’ presence in Lethbridge will result in some policing challenges there.
But Letbridge police are led by “quite a smart guy” in Mehdizadeh, and the city has a “sizable” police force, he said.
“I don’t think the citizens of Lethbridge have to worry much,” said Sundberg, adding the Hells Angels’ establishment of a new chapter there shouldn’t cause “public angst.”
The Hells Angels, founded in 1948 in California, has grown to become a sophisticated international criminal organization that’s conscious of its public image, said Sundberg.