Bob Armstrong

Robert Armstrong (1948 – 19 December 2012) was an Australian policeman regarded as the "pre-eminent bikie gang expert" with the Victoria Police. On 31 May 1996, he inserted two undercover officers into the Ballarat chapter of the Bandidos. Over the course of the next eighteen months, the two officers rose up to become "full patch" Bandidos while the two female officers playing their girlfriends were widely accepted into Bandido circles.

One of the undercover officers was on the brink of being promoted to the office of secretary of the Bandido Ballarat chapter, but Armstrong ordered a series of arrests before the promotion occurred. Operation Barkly culminated on 11 December 1997, when approximately 100 police officers carried out a series of coordinated raids against the Bandidos in four states. 19 people were arrested, and around $1 million of drugs and $6 million of precursor chemicals in the manufacture of drugs were seized along with numerous weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle.

About the controversial decision to shut down the operation before the promotion occurred, Armstrong argued that three leaders of the Bandido Ballarat chapter had been murdered over the last two years, and it would be dangerous to have an undercover officer as the chapter secretary. Finally, Armstrong argued that all four of the undercover officers were showing signs of psychological stress and he thought it best to end the operation before any of his agents made a mistake that might cost them their lives. However, Armstrong told Sher and Marsden: "I've often thought about what would have happened if we just kept it going. One of them could have gone on to be national secretary, communicating with all the other chapters across the world, keeping the network going".

Anti-bikie expert By the 1990s, Armstrong was considered to be the main anti-biker expert with the Victoria police.