Hells Angel veteran calls Vancouver police's bluff
If police had evidence they would act on it, Rick Ciarniello says of department's pledge to crack down on East End club

Ian Bailey
Vancouver - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Apr. 13, 2010 10:12PM EDT

A veteran B.C. member of the Hells Angels says a Vancouver police department pledge this week to go after a chapter of the gang is more about spin than actual intentions.

Rick Ciarniello, a member of the Vancouver chapter for 27 years, said if police had evidence against Hells Angels they would be making new arrests rather than talking about making arrests.

"It is so vague and meaningless," Mr. Ciarniello said Tuesday of comments this week from the police inspector in charge of gangs and drugs.

"The police need their boogeyman and we're it, and they want to keep the fact that we're bad guys as much in the public's mind as they can.

"The fact is if we're all doing what they say we're doing, we should all be in jail.

We're just not that clever."

Mr. Ciarniello was reacting to statements by Vancouver Inspector Brad Desmarais that the department is going to examine its "current and future enforcement options" with regards to the East End chapter of the Hells Angels.

His comments came as Juel Stanton, a full-patch member of the chapter facing various assault and weapons charges, was slapped with a series of tough release conditions that will bar him from wearing Hells Angels clothing and from displaying his club tattoos.

Part of the issue in the legal proceedings against Mr. Stanton is the assertion that he was using his club membership as a means of intimidation - a situation that prompted Insp. Desmarais to send officers to ask the chapter president to try to rein in Mr. Stanton.

Mr. Ciarniello said he was curious about why the police didn't just skip the step of meeting with the president and arrest Mr. Stanton if they were concerned about his conduct.

He said there was nothing new in the inspector's statement.

"If any Hells Angel breaks the law, they're going to enforce the law and charge us with something. They would do that anyway. What's new?

"They're already overzealous when it comes to Hells Angels, about going after us. Nothing is going to change unless they plan on doing something illegal …"

Insp. Desmarais said he will consider his options, and a department spokesman said Tuesday it was too soon to elaborate on the inspector's plans.

"There are a number of investigative options at our disposal when we decide to go down these roads," said Constable Lindsey Houghton.

Vancouver police and RCMP have previously been at odds with the Hells Angels through a series of prosecutions spanning many years. Last month, two Hells Angels were given sentences of a year and 14 months, respectively, for drug-trafficking offences. Both fell far short of the 12 years and 16 years the Crown was seeking. The Crown has announced it will appeal.

Julian Sher, a Montreal-based investigative journalist who has written two books on the Hells Angels and is familiar with the B.C. scene, said police, who have already gone after the Angels in B.C., appear to be taking a new stand against the organization.

"I think, to some degree, the police are sort of saying, 'We're drawing a line in the sand and maybe the police and politicians and ordinary people should do the same.'

"Hells Angels are very public. Hells Angels are very arrogant, very in your face. They have a website. They make statements. It's like the schoolyard bully. The way you stop bullies is by standing up to them."

He said the "ultimate victory" for the force would be to shut down the East End club, which has occasionally happened in law enforcement's war against the group. Mr. Sher referred particularly to the chapter in Halifax that was closed, but is now making a comeback.

"I don't think Brad Desmarais, or any of the cops, are under any illusion they are ever going to wipe out organized crime, wipe out the Hells Angels or wipe out the drug trade," he said.

The goal is more incremental. "It's saying, 'You're going to be there. There's always going to be organized crime and there, pretty much, will always be the Hells Angels, but we can make life so miserable for you that it's not going to be as much fun as it used to be and maybe, at least, you won't expand and maybe you will wither and die in at least a few places.'

"I think that's what success is."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/hells-angel-veteran-calls-vancouver-polices-bluff/article1533640/