Aerial view of 'The Strip' in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States.
Basil Smith, Contributor
OFTEN LURKING in the shadows on the periphery of discussions about casinos are old images of crooks and gangsters, some of which are inspired by real people and events and many of which are inspired by Hollywood fantasies.
Giving names to these faces conjures up monikers like "Bugsy" Siegel, "Lucky" Luciano, George Raft and Michael Corleone to create a potent concoction of fact and fiction from which many recoil by reflex, never bothering to pause and examine the reality of gaming in today's business environment. Never bothering to separate the myth from reality.
The raw material for all this is largely factual and goes as far back as the 1920s and 30s, when organised crime, driven from their traditional rackets in America's inner cities began to seek and explore new territories in which to make or launder money. The irony of the situation is that, since many forms of gambling have been illegal for so long, criminals were the only operators of games. When gambling restrictions were relaxed, criminals were the first to open up legal gambling establishments.
In the USA, for example, a lax regulatory framework in Nevada was inadequate to prevent members of organised crime from openly owning and operating casinos. To compound the irony, it could be said that in the 1950s and '60s Nevada needed the criminals to make gambling viable because no one else had their expertise and experience. The state was plagued by teamster financing, hidden ownership, employment of individuals of questionable character and background, and the clear links to organised crime and eventually improved its regulation only under the threat of federal government intervention.
This era was in large part responsible for creating the negative image with which the industry wrestles to this day. As one observer of the industry has put it, one can view casinos as virtual waterfalls of money. In an unregulated or poorly regulated environment they would be almost irresistible to a big-time criminal anxious to disguise the source of his wealth. Other industries have been attractive to criminals for the same reason; the best example on the Jamaican scene is entertainment promotion.
But, that was then and this is now. Today, casinos and gaming are among the most closely watched, carefully scrutinised and tightly regulated facets of the tourist industries within which they frequently operate. Today Governments around the world rely on casinos to boost tourism and revitalise their economies.
In the last quarter of the 20th century, the industry grew and underwent a process of modernisation and sophistication, parallel to none. But according to Prof. William R. Eadington of the University of Nevada "Casino gaming is still considered by some to be an essentially unhealthy activity that has not lost its previous status as a pernicious vice." What is the story? What are the facts?
DIFFICULT LINK
Some of the more thorough studies that have examined crime and possible relationships to pathological gambling have found that persons who are "problem" and "pathological" gamblers steal or commit crimes to finance their habit. This includes bad cheques, embezzlement, cheque forgery and fraud. But beyond pathological gambling, tracing the relationship between crime and gambling has proven difficult. The scope of the studies has been a problem, as some factor in street crimes, while others include domestic/family crimes.
Isolating the effects of gambling from the effects of tourism in general has also been a problem. While Nevada consistently records the highest crime rates in the USA, researchers suggest that this is caused more by the effects of the massive influx of transient people brought on by the size of the state's tourist industry than by the nature of the gambling industry.
Yet today the public's view of the gaming industry has changed dramatically: Last year one in every two Americans played the lottery and the proportion of adults who gambled in a casino last year more than doubled to 29 per cent of all adults since the previous study in 1975. Yet, anecdotal information and popular myth have perpetuated claims by those who oppose gambling, that casinos attract seedy types and are breeding grounds for crime and decadence. However, all recent publicly and privately funded studies have refuted these claims. "There is little documentation of a causal relationship between crime and gaming," concludes the American Gaming Association.
Research conducted by the National Opinion Research Centre (NORC) at the University of Chicago, for the Federal National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) found no statistical significance for crimes linked to casinos. In its final report released in June 1999, the NGISC noted that it had attempted to investigate the relationship between crime and legalised gaming through a number of studies, but these concluded that "insufficient data exist to quantify or define that relationship."
In 1998, 24 sheriffs from various states in the USA met to explore the issue. They concluded that they could identify "no connection between gaming and crime" in their jurisdictions, some even pointed to a decrease in crime in their communities. A March 2000, report by the Public Sector Gaming Study Commission, stated that "...the majority of the information collected during the past decade indicates there is no link between gambling, particularly casino-style gambling and crime."
PROPER REGULATION
The fact is that legalised gambling takes place within a structured framework, i.e.. enabling legislation (laws) and policy regulations and government has responsibility for putting in the checks and balances to ensure that the system works. In addition, the industry is usually formally organised based on various economic models, to yield the greatest benefits to the society, according to the goals/objectives/ strategy being adopted by the host country.
This means that we have a say in what comes here and how it is organised. Similarly, consumption of liquor in the USA was once deemed so inimical to the public good that it was prohibited. This ushered in the "Prohibition Era" of criminal activity by, in effect, making criminals of the many otherwise law-abiding people who simply wanted to relax and enjoy the recreational time by having a drink or two. It also put the manufacture and distribution of liquor into the hands of organised crime. After the prohibition act was repealed, the US government adopted a more rational approach and regulated the terms and conditions under which liquor could be manufactured, distributed and consumed.
In the USA well-regulated communities with casinos have been proven to be as safe as any other community. According to data compiled from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting programme, "Las Vegas has a lower crime rate and is safer than virtually every other major American tourist venue. The crime rate in Atlantic City, New Jersey, has fallen dramatically since 1991. Joliet, Illinois, is experiencing its lowest crime rate in 15 years. Crime rates in Baton Rouge, LA have decreased every year since casino gaming was introduced. Closer to home in The Bahamas, there has been absolutely no evidence of an increase in crimes with the advent of casinos. In fact, the impact of casinos on the improved standard of living enjoyed by many Bahamian citizens could well be a major contributing factor in reducing the crime rate.
The simple fact is that casinos are significant to tourist destinations. Experience in this region has shown them to be of marginal value as primary attractions, but of enormous value when it comes to increasing per capita spending. Clearly, given the potential to be "virtual waterfalls" of money, they demand close scrutiny and tight regulation, but they need not be blamed for a jurisdiction's own failing to exercise the necessary controls.
This is the third in a series of articles that will thoughtfully discuss issues related to entertainment and gaming in the context of their potential for creating a broader, richer and more beneficial tourism offering for Jamaica.
