Police Return Elks’ Awards in Biker Protest

Following through on a promise, a police officer Wednesday returned seven name plates from Officer of the Year plaques to the Simi Valley Elks Lodge, which will be the site of a Hells Angels charity fund-raiser in September.

Another three will be returned soon in person or by mail, police officers say.

Returning the awards--which Elks Lodge members give to outstanding police officers each year--is a form of protest, said Det. Jay Carrott, a former Elk who delivered the name plates to the lodge in a Manila envelope.

The message, he said, is clear: Either the Elks support law enforcement or they support the Hells Angels, which many police officers believe is a lawless group.

By accepting $6,000 from the Big Red Machine--another name for the motorcycle group--the Elks are taking dirty money, Carrott told Exalted Ruler Bill Turrentine at the lodge door.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Turrentine replied. “I guess everyone has to do what everyone has to do.”

George Christie, president of the Ventura County chapter of the Hells Angels, called the action short-sighted. The charity poker ride, which attracted more than 2,500 bikers last year, will not be called off, he said.

“The money raised is going to benefit children in need,” Christie said. “I don’t understand what their problem is. I think before [police officers] start pointing fingers at us, they need to clean out their own closet.”

The return of the name plates stems from a lodge decision last month to let the Big Red Machine rent the lodge in the rugged east end of town for a charity ride. The Simi Valley lodge permitted a similar event last year without incident. The Elks also rent out their facilities to other organizations, including handicapped bowling leagues and cancer support groups, to raise money for children’s charities.

Carrott, the 1991 Officer of the Year, attended the June 17 membership meeting. When he learned of the decision, he resigned. Since then, other honored officers also volunteered to relinquish their awards.

The publicity surrounding the return may have miffed the Elks, but Christie thinks that the hullabaloo will only attract more bikers--and more donations--to the ride.

Stressing that he spoke for himself, rather than the lodge, lodge co-founder Al Spatz said the situation had become unnecessarily rancorous.

“It’s a very disgusting thing,” Spatz said, adding that the decision to allow the fund-raiser has not been finalized. “It’s giving us one hell of a black eye.”