Outlaws Motorcycle Club gone from Gander
Biker gang set up a clubhouse in the town in 2013
Police in Gander are praising the community's approach for helping discourage a chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club to the point it has left town altogether.
The bikers set up shop in a clubhouse on Gander's main drag in 2013, but they now "cease to exist" in the community, according to RCMP Staff Sgt. Roger Flynn.
"I think it was a good example of how not just the police, but the community, can work together," said Flynn.
"We had a lot of co-operation from the town of Gander to be able to manage that issue."
Watch this Here & Now report from 2013 on the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
When the club's lease on the Airport Boulevard space ran out around May of 2015, they went door-to-door in search of a new location but no one would rent to the club. Flynn said it's an example of community policing at work.
"People have to learn it's a community concern. Gone are the days when... it's just a policing issue," said Flynn.
"It's a community issue."
Last week raids in St. John's under Project Bombard made headlines across the province, as police laid a slew of charges against members of the Vikings Motorcycle Club, an affiliate of the Hells Angels
Flynn said police have kept an eye on crime trends locally and haven't noticed any troubling changes.
"We see certain trends but we don't see a lot of spin-off from St. John's in Gander," he said.
"But it's always something that's on our radar."