The city will play host to the formal launch of a bulked-up police task force aimed at routing the bikers. The launch here is a bow to London police Chief Julian Fantino, who pushed for the project. With the slaying of two bikers in London last month, including the head of the London chapter of the Outlaws, Fantino said he may take Solicitor General Jim Flaherty, one of the officials here today, past a gang clubhouse if he wants a first-hand look. The OPP's anti-biker squad will be boosted to 20 members from seven. OPP have been directed by the Ontario government to rid the province of outlaw biker gangs, especially the Hells Angels.
Police say there are about a dozen biker gangs in Ontario with hundreds of known members.
Observers have speculated last month's two fatal shootings in London were a response to bikers muscling in on local drug turf. Ontario, with a hot economy and large population, presents a lucrative market for gang crime, said London South MPP Bob Wood, who sits on the Tory government's anti-crime commission. Wood said the expanded task force should give police a better early-warning and detection system to combat gangs.