Denying Reality

The Gambling Industry and Gambling Proponents deny the increased crime that accompanies Slot Barns (by whatever elegant name). 

This is an incomplete list, but, Guys! Really! It's on the internet, publicly available.

Let's tell the truth - Predatory Gambling increases crime.

277 Reported Crimes at 3 Philly Slot Barns YTD

While these crimes don't attract a lot of attention, they are becoming all too familiar to casino patrons.

Patrons unsafe at SugarHouse

And when three women were robbed by two men at gunpoint early Friday in the parking lot on their way into the casino, SugarHouse officials said, a security vehicle was patrolling nearby.

The robbery, the first reported at SugarHouse's ....

Before Friday's robbery, police had received three reports of crime at SugarHouse since the casino's Sept. 23 opening: two reports of theft from cars in the parking lot, and one of a broken car window.

About 1 a.m. Friday, the three women, ages 29, 30, and 32, arrived in the parking lot and were approached by two men who demanded money. One of the women was pistol-whipped, and the men took $340 and credit cards.

Last month, a 26-year-old man who had won about $2,000 at SugarHouse was pistol-whipped near his Cinnaminson home after leaving the casino.

Another incident occurred last month when two men followed a casino winner to his South Jersey home and tried to rob him.
Police also say that the getaway car was reported carjacked in Darby Township hours before the victims were robbed.

Denying crime at SugarHouse

When Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger was questioned about it at a recent House Gaming Oversight Committee meeting, he testified that police told him "there have been no serious issues at all [at] the SugarHouse Casino." Except, he later admitted (after a state representative politely reminded him), a grisly pistol-whipping.

Police spokesman Lt. Ray Evers also told City Paper that compared to other parts of Philadelphia, there has been "virtually no crime" at SugarHouse.

The stats tell a slightly different story.