Anecdotal information and popular myth have perpetuated claims by
gambling opponents that casinos are linked to increased crime rates
in communities and organized crime. Nearly all recent publicly and
privately funded studies, however, as well as the testimony of law
enforcement agents from around the country, refute these claims.
Research conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
at the University of Chicago for the federal National Gambling Impact
Study Commission (NGISC) found that "... the casino effect is
not statistically significant for any of the ... crime outcome measures."
In its final report released in June 1999, the federal National
Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) noted that it had attempted
to investigate the relationship between crime and legalized gaming
through studies by the National Research Council and National Opinion
Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. These studies
concluded that 'insufficient data exists to quantify or define that
relationship.' A further examination by the General Accounting Office
confirmed the NGISC findings.
A March 2000 report by the Public Sector Gaming Study Commission,
a nonpartisan organization of state legislators who chair or are
members of legislative committees responsible for gaming in their
states, said: '...
the majority of the information collected during the past decade indicates
there is no link between gambling, particularly casino-style gambling,
and crime. The security on the premises of gambling facilities, the
multiple layers of regulatory control, and the economic and social
benefits that gambling seem to offer to communities are effective
deterrents to criminal activity.'
A 2000 National Institute of Justice study by researchers at the
University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Memphis reported
that 'the casinos do not appear to have any general or dramatic
effect on crime, especially in communities that do not have a high
concentrations of casinos.'
A December 1997 study by Jeremy Margolis, a former director of
the Illinois State Police, assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern
District of Illinois and Illinois inspector general, found: '[T]here
is little valid evidence to support the notion that the presence
of casino gaming in a community has any meaningful impact on crime
rates.'
As Safe As Without Casinos
In September 1998, 24 sheriffs and chiefs of police from gaming jurisdictions
nationwide submitted to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission
Crime and Gaming: Statement of Findings, which reported no connection
between gaming and crime in their jurisdictions. Testimony before
the commission by other law enforcement and public officials from
gaming communities across the country told a similar story and, in
fact, pointed to a decrease in crime in their communities.
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