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Going hog mild - Wild Pigs
police motorcycle club promotes safety and charity
by Peter
Reilly
Posted 2008-02-21 10:19:05
Lieutenant Bernie Erwin, of
the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department, is proud to be called a Pig…with
a capital “P.”
For him and the 20 other members in the local Wild Pigs motorcycle club,
PIG stands for Pride, Integrity, and Guts. They may look like outlaw
bikers in their black leather and three-piece colors on their backs,
roaring down a ribbon of highway on their Harleys, but these bad-looking
biker dudes are, in fact, all members of law enforcement agencies from
across Central Florida.
The group meets monthly in Sanford at the Disabled American Veterans Hall
to promote safe motorcycle riding and work on charitable causes. On
weekends they go on group rides to celebrate the open road and foster
camaraderie among members.
“We want to encourage safe cycling and camaraderie, and give back to the
community what it’s given to us,” says Bernie, the club’s president.
The only requirements for membership are that you have to be an active or
retired law enforcement officer in good standing who owns a Harley
Davidson or other American motorcycle.
These Pigs only ride hogs. But they’re not chauvinist Pigs.
They welcome women members like Jan Kloth of Longwood, a sergeant with the
Seminole County Sheriff’s office.
“I enjoy riding with the guys and doing things for the community,” she
says.
In November the Wild Pigs rode in the March of Dimes run in Palm Bay,
where they were voted best new motorcycle group. They raised money for a
firefighter in Apopka who lost his hand and arm in a fire. And in December
they adopted a dozen needy families from Starlight Baptist Church in
Winter Springs. They bought Christmas dinner for each family, toys for
kids, and a new bicycle for one disadvantaged boy.
“We went to Pastor Glen Riggs in December and told him that we wanted to
help,” says Wild Pigs member Steve Walthers, a Lake Mary resident who is
retired from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Department.
“He said they had 12 families that needed help, so we went ahead with the
12, prepared complete turkey dinners, and put them in wrapped boxes. Then
we made arrangements for them to come to the church, where we handed out
the meals.”
During the course of that afternoon, one woman mentioned that her
four-year-old son wanted a bike, but she couldn’t afford one. When the
members heard about it, they got the boy a bicycle, then got on their
Harleys and rode to his house a a group to present it to him.
“He was just unbelievably happy,” says Steve. “He couldn’t speak. But I
don’t know if he was more happy about the bicycle or seeing all those big,
loud motorcycles and getting a chance to sit on one.”
In the future, the Wild Pigs want to do more to help the families of
disabled officers or the families of those killed in the line of duty.
The Orlando-area chapter was founded about a year-and-a-half ago, but the
national organization has been around since 1987. At the peak of the
organization, there were 60 chapters and 1,200 members nationwide.
Surprisingly, despite all the good work that the local club does, they’ve
had difficulty in attracting members because some in law enforcement view
any motorcycle group that wears a three-piece patch on their backs as a
“one-percenter” group of outlaws. The term derives from a 1947 riot in
Hollister, California, that was blamed on two rival motorcycle clubs. The
incident became the inspiration for the 1950s Marlon Brando flick, The
Wild One, a movie about rebellious bikers.
In a bid to change the public’s view of motorcycle clubs as havens for
thugs, the American Motorcyclists Association issued a statement saying
that “99 percent” of motorcycle riders are law-abiding citizens and only
“one percent” are troublemakers. Unfortunately, some groups like the Hells
Angels took that label as a badge of honor. Many outlaw bikers have a “1%”
diamond patch they wear on their leather jackets or have “1%” tattooed on
their arms, according to an article in the Austin Chronicle newspaper of
Austin, Texas. And instead of wearing a single patch on their backs, these
groups break it up into three pieces as a sign of rebellion and
nonconformity.
The local Wild Pigs group is actively seeking members and wants to assure
the public and fellow law enforcement officers that they are good guys.
Just as the group took “Pigs,” the derogatory term for cops popularized by
protestors in the 1960s, and made it a positive term, they hope to take
the stereotypical tough-guy motorcycle club image and transform it into a
symbol of good in the world.
“We have a love of riding motorcycles and a commitment to our community,”
says Tom Artingstall, a Longwood resident, who is employed by the state
attorney’s office. “Wild Pigs is a law enforcement motorcycle club, a
law-and-order motorcycle club. Everybody here is committed to doing the
right thing and helping people.
“Sometimes people see the organization in a negative light. We are not an
outlaw group. We are definitely a do-gooder motorcycle club. But because
of the connotation of a one-percent club, because of the three-piece
patch, sometimes the community may look at it differently. Sometimes
administrators in law enforcement agencies may look at us negatively. Even
our fellow law enforcement motorcycle clubs like the Blue Knights may view
us with suspicion. They wonder, ‘Are they walking the line? Are they
associating with bad guys? Are they bad people?’
“No, what makes the club are the people who wear these colors and are
committed to doing the right thing.”
But Tom is the first to admit that perceptions are hard to change, even
among their members.
“We have a number of members who didn’t want to have their pictures taken
with the group for the article because of this connotation,” he says.
Fortunately, that’s not how Darrell Brewer of Sanford feels. The retired
lieutenant with the Sanford Police Department is currently a judicial
deputy with the Seminole County Sheriff’s office and proud to be a Wild
Pig.
“I’ve known most of these people for years. We have similar interests and
enjoy the camaraderie,” he says.
Jay Summers of Lake Mary, a sergeant with the Seminole County Sheriff’s
office, agrees. “This is a great bunch of people and everybody in the
organization is very professional. We have a lot of fun.”
So if you’re out driving and you see the Wild Pigs on their motorcycles,
you don’t have to worry about anything…unless you run a stop sign. Then
you might get a ticket from an unorthodox-looking motorcycle cop.
“We’re just a close-knit bunch of guys,” says Steve. “We worked together
as cops and we love to ride together.”
For more information about the Wild Pigs, visit their website at
www.wildpigsorlando.org
Read this article and others at
Lake Mary Life
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