Crime prevalence and frequency among Danish outlaw bikers

Abstract

Abstract In the very limited quantitative research on outlaw bikers, basic questions about crime prevalence and frequency have not been sufficiently addressed. The current study contributes to fill this void. Data are derived from two sources: the Danish National Police, who maintain a file on individuals active in outlaw motorcycle clubs, and Statistics Denmark, which provides registry data on their criminal histories. Five samples ranging from 457 to 1017 outlaw bikers are analysed descriptively. Results vary depending on the sample. The average age of criminal onset among criminally active outlaw bikers is approximately 18. These individuals are generally first registered in the National Police file on outlaw bikers between the ages of 27 and 32. A significant proportion of these individuals are involved in crime both before and after their affiliations with outlaw motorcycle clubs and are responsible for a disproportionate amount of all cleared crime in Denmark. The findings suggest that a broad and high-intensity police approach to the prevention of outlaw biker crime in Denmark is appropriate. On the other hand, they also imply that reductions in outlaw biker crime might not matter much for the overall crime level in Denmark.