WEST Australian police have been warned to be extra cautious when approaching bikies as tensions continue to build between the Rebels and Comancheros.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said dedicated attention was always given to criminal gangs and while that attention would be “relentless”, extra efforts were being made.
“We’ve got some warnings out for our officers to take particular care because these tensions are emerging,” he told 6PR radio on Thursday.
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READ NOWMr Dawson said the public should also be worried.
“What concerns me and should concern the community is particularly when firearms are being used out in public, as we’ve seen, and people being injured.”
A suspected bikie war is brewing in Perth following a drive-by shooting last month in Calista, which left a man aged in his 50s in hospital, and five suspicious tattoo parlour fires between March and August.
After the shooting, it emerged the victim thought he was being pulled over by police, and Mr Dawson said the vehicle believed to have been involved in the crime was later found burnt.
He said police recently charged bikies from both gangs, as well as associates, and seized 16 firearms, drugs and cash.