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Top cops hope for quiet Angels rally - By Amber Peabody
This document was published online on Tuesday, July 25, 2006
With the Hells Angels World Run set to start on Wednesday, Park County law enforcement is ready.
“We're not expecting any problems, but on the other hand we're also prepared,” Police Chief Perry Rockvam said. “They're excited and we're excited. We're looking forward to a fun time.”
Estimates vary on how many Hells Angels members will come to the weekend-long rally, but about 1,500 are anticipated.
“We hope everything goes off without a hitch, that they enjoy their stay and we enjoy their stay,” Sheriff Scott Steward said.
Steward expects a few minor incidents but doesn't anticipate any major conflicts.
“The Hells Angels want to minimize conflicts, as do we,” he said. “It's a shared idea.”
“We've established a relationship during the past six months, and any issues that come up we'll work out,” Rockvam said.
Rockvam and Steward advise the public to be respectful of the visitors.
“Just treat them with respect and give them space,” Steward said. “Treat them like anyone else and if they don't want to engage, leave them alone.”
In January, Gov. Dave Freudenthal authorized $500,000 to be spent to help keep order during the rally. The funds were forfeited in drug cases.
“We put so much time in the last six months that now it's just a matter of fine tuning,” Steward said. “We're ready for it to get over with and move on.”
The state funds will be used to provide salaries and overtime costs for the additional officers, as well as housing, food and gasoline for those officers.
The National Guard will receive $75,000 for extra security, and $15,000 will go to Big Horn, Hot Springs and Washakie counties for their help with extra patrols.
Law enforcement from outside and around the state began arriving last Friday and will continue through Tuesday.
Steward declined to state the exact number of officers coming in to help, but said there will be “more than what we're used to seeing.”
Officers from around the Big Horn Basin, Gillette, Riverton, Rock Springs, Laramie, Wheatland, Douglas and Jackson, as well as Montana, Utah and Colorado, are expected.
“It will be pretty obvious,” Rockvam said. “I told (club spokesman) George Christie it will be similar to every place they've gone before.”
Federal agents, U.S. marshals, FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, state Division of Criminal Investigation, State Homeland Security and Wyoming Highway Patrol also will be on hand.
“We have leadership coming in that worked the command post at the Olympics in 2002,” Rockvam said. “We also have officers who have worked past Hells Angels rallies and that's a benefit to us.”
Officers will patrol in cars and on foot, and some will be in street clothes working undercover.
“I'm feeling comfortable with where we're at, but you never know until it actually starts,” Rockvam said. “There always will be things we didn't think of creep up, but hopefully they should be minor, and we'll be able to handle them through our plan.”
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