Increased Crime = Decreased Safety

Legalized gambling leads to higher crime levels
Nov. 4, 2012

Written by Leonardo M. Rapadas

Before I begin, I have a couple disclaimers. One, this is not an official Office of the Attorney General opinion on any pending propositions or legislative proposals on the subject of casino gambling. I have not had any discussions or conversations with any groups for or against any such propositions or proposals. I am writing strictly from a law enforcement perspective and not from a socio-economic one.

Over the last several years, there have been various attempts to legalize casino-style gambling on our beautiful island; all with promises of economic prosperity for all. During these tight financial times -- not only for the government, but for our citizens -- it is awfully tempting to make casino gambling a reality here. Whether or not it is true the government coffers fill up or our unemployment rate drops, crime levels will increase.

Because of the large amount of cash collected by these operations, they can become extremely tempting targets for organized crime. Places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City have casinos that are highly regulated and licensed by their respective states. We have nowhere near the regulatory and statutory infrastructure Nevada and New Jersey have to protect us from organized crime. That, by itself, should send alarm bells ringing.

Despite those states having such "protections," organized crime has infiltrated, through labor unions, services closely associated with casinos, such as gambling machine maintenance companies, custodial services and even security firms, effectively opening their doors to the danger.

Within the casinos themselves, money laundering can be another problem. "Customers" can come in with large amounts of cash and purchase chips or establish credit with the casino. The chips or credit can then be cashed in and labeled as "winnings." These winnings are subject to income tax regulation, but the damage has already been done.

There are federal regulations that require currency transactions of $10,000 or more be reported, including multiple transactions that exceed $10,000. Unfortunately, these facts may not be caught by the most diligent of employees. Additionally, operators and employees can receive kickbacks for allowing money laundering to occur.

Because of the sums of cash involved and the interaction of government licensing and regulation, if they actually exist, the specter of public corruption arises. It becomes very tempting for the most conscientious of government employees tasked to regulate these operations to ignore the "flashing of cash" to look the other way. Public servants here would range anywhere from the actual inspectors on site to higher ups in all the other branches.

I know the majority of Guam's public servants will ignore the temptation and do their jobs, but it only takes a few bad ones to taint the rest.

Finally, numerous studies have been done comparing rates of crime in cities with gambling vs. those that do not. The crime rates were significantly higher in the places that allowed gambling. Atlantic City showed an increase in crime when gambling became legalized. The city went from last in the nation in per capita crime to first. There may have been some interaction with the tourism industry to bring about that result. Guam's top two industries are tourism and the military.

I believe there are psychological problem areas associated with gambling that could lead to an increase of crime. One issue is the compulsive gambler. Like any "addict," they will do what they can to feed their "fix." If their paycheck, assuming they have not lost their job yet, runs out, they do what they can to get the cash, some legal, but some not.

Examples of crime attributable to compulsive gamblers include bad checks, embezzlement, check forgery and fraud. Other crimes are more serious and could lead to violence and injury to our citizens and include burglaries, robberies and drug dealing.

This is a much more complicated issue than I've presented, but for me, an increase in crime and therefore a decreased safety to our people and our "island way" of life is most important to me and should never be ignored.

Leonardo M. Rapadas is the attorney general of Guam.

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20121104/OPINION02/211040310