FDLE Expresses Concern Regarding Possible Expansion of Gambling

from – http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/press_releases/20050304_FDLE_Gambling.html

March 4, 2005

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell today expressed concern about the impact of criminal activity as well as the impact on our state’s budget should the expansion of gambling be passed by voters in South Florida on Tuesday.

“This week some of our personnel met with law enforcement authorities from New York, and after walking away from that meeting, we know more than ever that we have serious cause for concern,” Commissioner Tunnell said. “For the past several years, FDLE has expressed opposition to the expansion of gambling activities. What we found after meeting with the New York authorities only served to reaffirm our apprehension that expansion of all types of gambling poses serious risks to all of us.”

Following the meeting with New York authorities, FDLE has the following concerns:

* The possibility of money laundering schemes developing through these facilities
* Loan sharking activity increases, particularly in and around the facility and the parking lots surrounding the facility
* Children will be left unattended in parked cars while their parents gamble
* There have been instances of “double accounting books” being kept by the facilities; one for the facility, and one that they provide to the authorities
* Prostitution rings increase in size and magnitude
* Larcenies are committed, particularly against the elderly that play, but fail to take due care in protecting their winnings
* The incidence of domestic violence increases, often brought on by one spouse losing their hard-earned money on gambling
* Armed and unarmed robberies will increase in and around the properties and parking lots
* Burglaries of cars and hotel rooms near all the facilities where players stay will increase, because of the knowledge that these individuals are carrying large amounts of cash

In addition, the impact on state and local governments will be immeasurable and unpredictable, and would include:

* The State of New York currently has eight facilities manned by at least 120 sworn and non-sworn law enforcement personnel. Despite this level of manpower, law enforcement authorities there strongly suggest that they are understaffed
* Background investigations for senior level managers at gaming facilities will directly impact the ability of FDLE to perform our basic law enforcement mission without an increased staffing level
* In addition to the backgrounds done on existing gaming employees, New York experiences a 30 percent turnover rate each year, a factor which generates a large and ongoing need for additional background investigation resources
* The state will have to bear a huge expenditure for surveillance equipment and personnel
* There will be a large expenditure to store and maintain storage of surveillance tapes/DVDs, because it will take months to unravel, identify and investigate money-laundering allegations. Thus, the tapes will have to be stored for lengthy periods of time on “the possibility” that they may be needed
* The impact on local law enforcement and their response to larcenies, burglaries, robberies and other crimes that will take place in and around the facilities will be immeasurable
* There will be an increased need for treatment facilities for those individuals that become chronic gamblers because of increased availability
* Law enforcement authorities in New York noted that it has taken “several years” to train their personnel in the investigative techniques needed to perform gaming related criminal investigations.

“It is our earnest hope that the residents of South Florida consider these concerns before approving the expansion of gambling in their neighborhoods,” Commissioner Tunnell said. “While a few dollars may be generated for good causes, the potential fallout from the expansion of gambling could change the face of south Florida forever – and not in a good and wholesome way.”

end of fdle remarks.

My personal opinion is that gambling should be legal (as with any “consensual crime”) but until it’s done in a way that it will keep other real crimes out of the way, especially theft and assault, it shouldn’t be a part of a community. Plus, I believe that gambling money rarely makes it back into the community in sufficuent amounts to outweigh the disadvantages. The lottery was supposed to help with schools, and it’s actually been shown that the educational system gets less now than before. I don’t want the same thing to happen with slots, because schools are already operating at a negative. If they manage to write up a contract that’s a lot less vague, then I’m more in favor.