“La, la, la, I DON’T HEAR YOU!” That’s the sound of casino opponents reacting to a new study that shows a 9% decline in murder, rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft and arson in a 30-mile radius of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun since their opening. It’s these types of crimes we’re always told will escalate when a new casino opens. However, with so much cash changing hands, perhaps we should not be surprised that the value associated with these crimes escalated 39%. Western Connecticut State University‘s Francis Muska, who conducted the study, found the latter statistic “stunning.”
The study area reported 29,335 crimes in a five-year pre-casino era and 26,590 in a parallel post-casino era. When the number of crimes committed at casinos was subtracted, the crime rate dropped 17%. Muska has an elegantly simple explanation for the increase in value of things stolen: “”If more people are working, there are more things to steal.” He also things the rural setting of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun works in their favor: “There’s a strong correlation between urbanization and crime rates,” Muska said. “A casino in Bridgeport would have been a disaster.”
* Intra-tribal strife threatens to bring down the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, which has been threatened with an Oct. 27 closure if missing audits aren’t submitted. What’s more, the casino could have $16 million in fines hanging over it. According to the National Indian Gaming Commission, the Chukchansi casino is delinquent in audits dating back to April of last year. Casino management for the the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians continued to fail to submit audits of its operation, leading to the current standoff. Each day that the casino is not in compliance means another $25,000 in fines.
Unfortunately, casino management is in the hands of the tribe’s ruling faction. “We have been complaining to the NIGC that there are issues of noncompliance at the casino,” says their spokesman, Rob Rosette, which is like the mugger blaming the cop. The tribe is further hamstrung by a court order whereby both would-be ruling factions have to sign off of on payments to vendors. You can imagine how well that arrangement is faring.
Former Chunkchasi lawyer Gary Montana says, “I have been in some disputes in tribal government, but I’ve never seen something like this. Never in my life.” His solution? That the feds “shut down the casino until they sort this thing out.”
