Hells Angels not welcome, says B.C. mayor

The mayor of Kelowna is calling on police and residents to show the Hells Angels they're not welcome in the B.C.Interior city.

The group officially launched a separate Kelowna chapter last week with a "patch-over" ceremony at its clubhouse.

But Mayor Sharon Shepherd has a blunt message for the local Angels: "Don't make yourself too comfortable."

Shepherd said she wants noise bylaws enforced on their motorcycles, and want the members of the motorcycle club banned from wearing their colours and patches in public.

She alsowants a list released of all the properties they own, so people can boycott their businesses.

"I would like us to make it the most uncomfortable community that they live in," she told CBC News.

The mayor's approach is being applauded by Julian Sher, a reporter and author of several books on the Angels.

"What's most important is that there's a strong community message,that 'This is our town, and we don't want organized crime of any stripe in our town.'"

Police unable to stop gang's expansion

The RCMP had tried hard to block the Angels from establishing a formal Kelowna chapter. They raided the local clubhouse two years ago, and arrested more than a dozen members in Kelowna and Vancouver.

Sgt. Al Haslett said there's very little the police can now do to force the Angels out of the Okanagan, rating police chances as "slim and nil."

Haslett said the new chapter gives the Angels a lot more control over organized crime in the B.C. Interior.

"They'll show a higher presence in the whole area, from Vernon down to Penticton, and I would suspect up to Kamloops and the whole region."

Chief Supt. Bob Paulson agrees. Paulson, who now works for the RCMP's national security arm, previously ran the Mounties' operations against the Angels in B.C.

"It's significant, because even though there have been national strategies and aggressive policing activities, they still continue to spread."

Despite several raids and arrests in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and B.C.,Paulson says the Angels remains the richest and most powerful crime gang in Canada.