The Vancouver Province is reporting that "A judge has agreed to allow the provincial director of civil forfeiture to conduct an inspection of two Hells Angels clubhouses being targeted in court proceedings. On Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies approved a consent order that had been signed by all parties allowing an inspection to be carried out of the Vancouver and Kelowna clubhouses."
The Kelowna and East Vancouver clubhouses have not yet been seized only the Nanaimo clubhouse has. Instead the police have applied to the courts for the right to seize those two clubhouses. Clearly the Kelowna clubhouse has been the root of a great deal of crime. The question is, was it purchased with the proceeds of crime. It is incomprehensible how it was not purchased with the proceeds of crime and should be seized. It's time to take out the trash.
It may be time to take out the trash, but, in my opinion, if there is no evidence proceeds of crime were used to purchase the club houses, the state has no business seizing them.
ReplyDeleteit may sound like a good idea, but we have seen how abused the "proceeds of crime" system has become in the U.S.A.
The problem is a new club house will be found, most likely rented this time. We are never going to get rid of the H.A. so we might as well know where they are, at their local club house.
Yes but doing something is better than doing nothing. All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men and women to remain silent and do nothing.
DeleteWhy, exactly, are we "never going to get rid of the HA"?
ReplyDeleteRegardless of whether it is possible to prove proceeds of crime were used to buy the clubhouse there remains several facts such as the clubhouse being used to further criminal activity (that is where they meet, where "church" is held, where they hang out, where they invite members from other charters, where they invite members of "support" clubs, etc) and it is a place where criminal activities are continuously conducted (remember, you do not "buy" a drink at a clubhouse, you "donate" money to the club for a set amount and they "give" you a drink - it is running a bar without having to pay tax, report income, follow liquor laws, etc).
A clubhouse also gives a public appearance which is important to these gangs - yes, I wrote gangs, instead of clubs - a club truly is different.
On top of the previous comments and question (which I hope is answered) why the heck would they notify the club before-hand regarding an inspection!?
It only allows them to get everything up to code, take out all of the illegal items, etc.
Inspections should be random and surprise. Just like any restaurant - you do not announce the health inspector is going to be coming next Tuesday at 5pm - you just show up.
Why? Because they don't really want to find anything....
Deleteand they can do it in regular houses, bars, anywhere they want. If the government is permitted to "take" a club house without proper evidence, then who is next.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a case of good people doing nothing. Its upholding the law for everyone. it may gall some of us, but its a slippery slope we go down.
There are conspiracy laws, but they don't involve taking away property where the conspiracy was hatched.
If the government "takes" the club house, all that the "gang" will do is move and rent some place. its makes much more sense. its always best to know where the criminals are.