Cops look to clamp down on ‘criminal bikers’

Commanding officer for the Westmoreland Police Division, Superintendent Robert Gordon, says criminals are repurchasing seized motorcycles at auctions, and using them to carry out more illegal activities.

"We have hundreds of motorcycles on our hands and through the process of auctions, we would have been getting rid of some. But we have realised in recent times that some of the very same persons that might have run away from the police leaving these motorcycles behind, are the very same ones who are coming back at auctions to have those bikes repurchased," Gordon told THE WEEKEND STAR. "We are now in the process of trying to have the auction of these motorbikes outside of the parish, and this is a process I am currently looking on to see how best we can get that done."

He said that Westmoreland has graduated from being the 'parish of bicycles', to the 'capital for motorcycles'.

Criminal operatives

"It is one of the parishes with the most motorcycles, but we would have realised over time that motorcycles have become the vehicle of choice for a number of our criminal operatives," Gordon said. "Wherever you see two persons on a motorcycle, particularly two males, it is highly probably that they have either committed an offence, or they are about to commit an offence, because that is the module of most of the offences that are being committed in the parish."

He said that the police have mounted multiple operations weekly on the streets, looking for motorcycles.

"On an average, we seized at least 10 motorcycles per week, and we have 52 weeks in a year, so that means we are seizing an average of 520 motorcycles each year," he said. "We prosecuted on an average nearly 50 motorcyclists each week, and again we have 52 weeks in a year, so you can clearly see the challenges the police face as we are prosecuting over 2,600 motorcycle offenders alone each year, a large amount who are involved in robberies, shootings and murders and are eventually brought to justice."

Gordon further stated that in an aim to stem criminal activities involving motorcycles this Christmas, all communities will receive additional security, with help from the military. He said there will be a total lockdown of some communities which are considered to be hotspots.