BIKERS AGAINST CHILD ABUSE: COMMITMENT AND COMPASSION

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DogCatcher
Oklahoma Public Relations Officer
Bikers Against Child Abuse

DogCatcher: We're a cause, not a club. And, that's basically what it comes down to--is we are involved with these children. They are part of our family. It's not just lip service. It's not just, "give me money." It's not like all these other organizations--what they can do. We really are involved with these kids. If there's a call in the middle of the night that says, "I'm afraid because the windows rattling."  I guarantee you, there's going to be at least three guys that go out there and try to fix that window. So, it's the involvement with the children, that's what it all comes down to. 

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Nine 1/2
Oklahoma State Vice President
Bikers Against Child Abuse

Nine and a Half: We work in conjunction with state and local officials already in place to help abused children. We work with local police departments and state patrol. We have to, okay.  Believe me, when we are doing a level two and we are surrounding house, we get the police called on us. Because the public perception is there's a gang of bikers surrounding a house. Until they come to us, and they say, "What are you doing?"  And then, they are like, "Hey, have a good day. Do what you do."  We can't do what we do without DHS. 

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BACA members and children go by biker names to protect anonymity.

DogCatcher: There's a lot of training, and it's all for the benefit. It's for the benefit of the organization. It's for the benefit of the members. It's for the benefit of the children. And there is a lot; there is a lot. And I'm grateful for every minute of it. It's not for everybody. 

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BACA was originated by a licensed clinical social worker and certified play therapist in Utah in 1995.

Nine and a Half: Being in BACA is not for everybody. But. I guarantee that everyone that's in this organization, we have one thing on our mind and one compassion, and that's these kids. When you roll up to a level one, okay?--and that's what I was saying, when we first bring that child in, we tell them, “We're part of your family now. We're brothers and sisters. We got this.” We can tell, like I said, we're trained to tell, and you can roll up on a level one and immediately you'll see the kid’s behind mommy’s leg, just terrified.  And then, within 10 or 15 minutes, that kid is out playing on motorcycles with us, okay? That level of commitment, it just comes. 

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BACA is in 48 states in the U.S. and forming in the other two, and 9 countries internationally.

The strength to do that--you can't imagine the feeling when they're going through the whole testimony and the D.A. or lawyer will say, “Is the person that did this to you in this room?”  And, that child will sit there and say, “Yes, he's right there.” That's an amazing thing, because the grooming process for abuse is nothing but fear. And it's not that, “I will hurt you”, it’s “I’ll hurt your parents, I will kill your dog, I will kill your grandparents, if you say anything.” So much fear is put into these kids. To have a kid stand up and say, “That's the person that did this to me,” it will tear you down. It will move you to tears, absolutely move you to tears, because we helped them do that. That's our job. 

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Since 1997, BACA has grown to 12 chapters in Oklahoma.

DogCatcher: They get the numbers of the two closest members to them, and so when they are scared, they make the phone call. And, we can show up, or we can just talk them down. We can, you know,  I can just sit there on the phone and get her ready for bed so that she can go to bed with no nightmares tonight, in her own bed. 

Nine and a Half: We call it the paydays, because no one is paid in this organization. We are a 501c3. We are all volunteers. All the money that we raise goes to our kids. The only way we get paid is through our kids and through these success stories. We’ve had members that have been invited to graduations. We've had members that have been invited to weddings. Birth announcements, I mean you name it. 

To me the ultimate win, there are members in our organization that were BACA children that were abused, and that were helped through what we do, and they came back later when they turned 18, and they signed an application, and they went through the process.   And, now they’re patch members of the Bikers Against Child Abuse, to me that's the ultimate payday because now they can carry that forward and continue breaking the chains of abuse, continue helping kids. That's the ultimate payday to me.  

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BACAworld.org