Biker war vigilance urged by Winnipeg police

Police are stepping up public vigilance ofbikerviolence in Winnipeg byalertingresidentswho live in a neighbourhood with a knowngang member.

They will not identify any specifichouse, but will tell residentsthey could see an increase in police patrols.

"Officers will also be asking for the publics assistance in reporting any suspicious activity in their neighbourhood," spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said Friday.

"Our goal is to create a heightened awareness in an effort to combat these recent events."

Michalyshen would not say which neighbourhoods the police are monitoring,noting the violence is not confined to certain areas.

Awave of violence shootings, firebombings has erupted in Winnipeg during the past month andpolice have attributed it to a battle between the Rock Machine and Hells Angels biker gangs for "supremacy" of the local drug trade.

Over the course of four days this week, four firebomb incidents were being investigated by police. Two business and two homes were hit with molotov cocktails butno one was injured.

Meanwhile, CBC News has obtained court documents that provide a little more informationonone side of the war: the Redlined Support Crew, a Hells Angels puppet group.

Members of theRSC,the street enforcers for the Hells Angels, operate out ofa building in an industrialpark on Bowman Avenue in Elmwood, court documents state.

People who work in the area are reluctant to talk about their neighbours buttold CBCNewsthere is alwaysa lot of action around the club, and plenty of police presence.

Security cameras monitor the doors of the clubhouse, whichshare space with auto shops and small warehouses.

Documents statethe Redliners answer directly to Hells Angels members, and brothers,Dale and Rod Sweeney.