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Public nuisance, public enemy, public servant? Introduction to the special issue on outlaw bikers in Europe

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Abstract

This essay presents an introduction to the special issue on outlaw motorcycle clubs in Europe. Apart from providing an overview of the papers contained in the special issue, it presents a classificatory scheme for the analysis of the links between outlaw biker clubs-also known as outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMCGs)-and crime. Against the backdrop of the history of the outlaw biker subculture in Europe, this paper proposes a five-fold typology of criminal activities that can potentially by ascribed to biker clubs as organizational entities, and it presents three different scenarios for an overlap of criminal structures and the formal structure of an outlaw biker club.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is based in part on a presentation given at the symposium “Profiling Dutch Outlaw Bikers and Dutch Outlaw Biker Clubs” held at Leiden University in September 2017. I would like to thank Arjan Blokland for inviting me to this event, and for providing valuable feedback on the presentation and on the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Police and Security Management, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Alt-Friedrichsfelde 60, 10315, Berlin, Germany

    Klaus von Lampe

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  1. Klaus von Lampe
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Correspondence to Klaus von Lampe.

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von Lampe, K. Public nuisance, public enemy, public servant? Introduction to the special issue on outlaw bikers in Europe. Trends Organ Crim 22, 1–9 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-019-09359-6

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