I watched a show on CourtTV last night. It was recorded during Vegas Bike Fest in '06. It was basically the gang police being shown doing what they do best.

Now, I know how these things really operate. The police aren't there to hassle people. Their just doing their jobs.

I think that was well represented in the show. The police weren't being overbearing. They were talking to 1%'ers just letting them know that they didn't want any trouble.

The first scene was of a vanilla citizen driving in their convertible mustang and making a bad turn into traffic maybe a u-turn. The officer was just giving a warning, but they way he gave the warning set the precedent for the entire show. He said, "Now be careful, this week is BikeFest. I say be careful and you should especially be careful this week. There are a lot of biker gangs around here this week and if you pull out in front of one of them and take 'em down, they won't call the police, they'll just shoot you. Especially cause motorcycles are harder to see."

WTF!?!

The show opened with a LT saying that BikeFest is a big gathering of biker gangs and that they carry "weapons and guns" and that the police are being vigilant in keeping trouble from happening. The entire undertone of the show was anti-gang violence. The show kept showing patches being worn by the Vagos, The Peckerwoods, and the H.O.G.

Haha, H.O.G.'s! That's a real tough biker gang. Better watch out, one of their dentists might drill your teeth without anesthesia!

I didn't count one Angel during the entire hour. The show seemed a little like it was out to highlight the biker gang element. There were only two altercations involving motorcyclists compared to the five others involving non-motorcyclists.

One of the motorcyclist incidents was an indecent exposure. One of the non-motorcyclist incidents was also an indecent exposure, but since the girl was prettier, she just got a warning. The older, heavier lady wearing the riding vest was ticketed.

Some of the other non-motorcyclist incidents included the u-turn I described before, a grand theft auto, one very intoxicated man being belligerent to officers, and one African American male strolling the streets selling drugs.

The other motorcyclist altercation was four Peckerwoods roughing some guy up in a casino that was touching their colors. That's all the show really told us and that's what the Peckerwoods were carted off to jail for. Two Peckerwoods didn't speak about it. One said that he disrespected them and got 'educated'. The last and largest one said that he never hit the victim, just pushed the guy away from himself to keep the victim from hitting him. His exact words were, "If I'm going to jail for the night and paying a fine, I woulda smaked him around!"

We didn't know if the victim was being a Billy Badass and picking a fight with a 'Biker Gang' because he wanted to show how tough he was. That kinda stuff happens and is how these 1%'ers get in trouble a lot of the time. I suspect that's what happened as the editing seemed pretty creative.

I really think this show had an agenda. I know that people are still reeling from the brawl in Laughlin. But trying to spin Bikefest like that show did only hurts everyone!

 

Every Mayor has an agenda and I'm sure the LVPD was just doing what they were ordered to do. I'm not saying it's right, but if you like your job and like being employed you do what the Head Shed tells you to. As long as it is legal.

 

No doubt! I don't think the police were really acting out of line. However, the show was definately biased.

 

They showed a lot of Virtnam Vets MC also as they talked about the 1% bike gangs. VNV MC are not 1%ers.

 

Ahh, you watched it! What did you think of it?

 

It's all about the ratings isn't it.

 

Thanks for the detailed account of the show.I don't know how much of modern 'reality' TV is believable or isn't... I've grown pretty cynical from what little I've seen of it. The cop telling the citizens to "watch out" because the 1%'rs would shoot 'em if they got in a wreck is a bit over the top. Sounds like a cop trying to make a splash in the entertainment business to me.

The fact that you didn't see any 'real' 1% colors is not conincidental. If you see 'em on national TV on a reality show, they probably aren't the real deal or they're getting paid. lol

As far as the agenda goes... Above all else, ratings = money, and money =the agenda.The people who put these shows together know how to keep Mr & Mrs J.Q. Public in front of the TV. I seriously doubt the agenda goes any deeper.

 

By the by dynamike74, one of the best Brain Bucket mag covers (current one in your sig line) I've seen in quite a while.

 

Thanks!

 

Sensationalism, shock value, and agenda driven revenue are common ingredients for today's purportedly unbiased documentaries.