The West Live: Ben Harvey reveals why the gang crime squad has the toughest cops on the beat

Don’t be fooled by the image published on the weekend of The West Australian chief reporter Ben Harvey enjoying a Mr Whippy with infamous WA underworld figure Troy Mercanti, there is nothing sweet about the reality of being in a bikie gang.

As someone who has reported on the activities of bikies in this State for years, Harvey knows better than most what such a life entails, and told The West Live today it is also no bed of roses for the police tasked with bringing them to justice.

The reporter heard from some of those police officers after his exclusive interview with the bikie appeared in The West Australian on Saturday, with the coppers keen to ensure their side of the story wasn’t forgotten

“The Gang Crimes Squad are, without a doubt, the toughest cops that we have on the beat in Western Australia, probably in Australia,” Harvey said.

“They basically bust bikies, that’s what they do; they gather intelligence and they spend their days and their nights rolling around in their cars making life unbearable for patched members and nominees of our dozen or so bikie squads.”

Within this squad is a crack unit called the Gang Response Team, and Harvey said if you ever find yourself pulled over by officers with the letters “GRT” on their uniforms you better be polite or you’ll “have a very bad day”.

“The Gang Response Team take no crap from anyone … and they do their job with a bit of a swagger as well, I might say.”

The veteran reporter said he had not received any direct feedback from Mercanti or the Mongols, but he has heard the story was read very closely by members of the club.

“I have no direct contact with any patched member of any gang, so any message you get is through a friend of a friend’s lawyer, but what I heard was that they felt I was true to my word that I would report on what I saw,” Harvey revealed.

“I don’t think they were in love with it, but as long as everyone hates it the same, you’ve done your job.”

Harvey also spoke about the time, years ago, when police had been given credible intelligence the Coffins Cheaters were out to bash him, and whether it was just a coincidence his home had been broken into and only his work briefcase was stolen.

Read his interview with Mercanti at thewest.com.au.