Current Issues in Gaming and Casinos
The events connected with crime, the casinos and the practice of gambling has been documented. There is no better source of literature for this particular aspect other than the police. Through the years, the police have continually revealed many important information and events about the link of crimes and the casinos. Police reports talk about incidences of shooting and stabbing, about rape and murder, about cases of stealing, of breaking and entering, about money laundering and drug trafficking, about human smuggling and child abuse, about domestic violence and about cases involving people, money, the gambling problem and the role of the casinos. Crime and casinos is a topic that will branch out and divert towards many different directions and will involve the consideration of many different events in history. In one way or another, it is significant in the issue regarding the link and connection of casinos and gambling and crime.
A. Timeline important events and set of events significant to casinogaming and crime and gambling
Casinos and gaming locations and institutions are created with the justification that (1) it is in line with the concept of free will, free trade and the exercise of democracy and freedom and that (2) casinos and gaming institutions and entities is an integral component that aids and helps the society through financial support to the needy. This is not to mention how these help the society in other ways, particularly by bringing business inside the community and by providing jobs to the people. In the United States, places like Atlantic City and Las Vegas has been synonymous to casinos and gambling. In following the timeline of casinos and gambling, it is quite noticeable that the start of the history of casinos and gaming also marked the beginning of the connection of this aspect of the society to crime and gambling.
Understanding the connection of casinos and gambling requires the following of some important events and development. In general, casinos, gaming, the practice of gambling and its connection to crime involved a huge amount of literature. However, this can be sorted out and generalized into several different important events that are important in shaping what is now the strong connection between casinos and gaming and gambling and crime. All of these events in the history of casinos and gambling-related crimes are all important events that are significant in the understanding of the connection between casino, gaming and gambling and crime.
i. Technological development - There are many technological events in the history of mankind that has significantly affected casinos and gambling and crime. First, there is the development in the technology involving safety and protection of the assets of the casinos. This is connected with crime. The changes in the technology as it is employed in the protection and safekeeping of the money and other material assets inside the casino dictates the changes as well as the standard operating procedure among criminals who are intent on stealing from the casino, either by stealth or by force. One of the types of crimes involving casinos is theft or robbery, often involving trespassing or forcible entry or unauthorized entry into private premises and property. They want to get the money that is found in the casino.
Another important technological development that is an important event in the casino-gambling and crime discussion is the technological developments that criminals use to trick or manipulate the electronic machines in casinos. Many amateur and professional individuals try to do this in the hope of being able to appear to legitimately win, for example in a slot machine. Their actions are actually illegal. Over the years, there have been many technological developments from simple magnetic gadgets to more complex equipment that people use to cheat. When they are caught, they are slapped with criminal charges.
The development in technology through the years has allowed the realization of two things. For those relying on technology to continue the improvement and protection of the casino from criminals and their criminal actions, technological developments are events that give them hope that they can do better with the task. There are also events pertaining to technological developments, like the development and commercialization of CCTV cameras, for example. This allows casino owners and managers to be able to protect themselves from the threat of criminal actions directed or involving them (Kruegle, 2007, p. 545). All camera installations are aesthetically installed and integrated into the casino decor (Kruegle, 2007, p. 545).
There are those who rely on technology to undertake criminal acts, events in technological development, like electronic capabilities to bypass biometric scanners on entry points and the ability to hack inside computer systems to breach security. This opens more new doors for criminal actions directed to or involving casinos. Important events in this particular category involves development in electronics and computer technology, as well as developments in equipment that can be used as weapon or equipment in the undertaking of the criminal act related to or involving the casino.
ii. Organized crime - Another important event in the connection of casinos and crime is the history and development of organized crime. Organized crime has a long history in the casino business (Albanese, 1995, p. 9). Perhaps one of the important events is the rise of the power and popularity as well as clout and influence of the Mafia. The Mafia is a group known to be involved in many activities, including illegal and criminal activities. The casinos have been closely tied to the activities of the Mafia. Either the Mafia owns and runs it and uses it for cover for their many different criminal acts as a result of casino and casino operations (money laundering, drugs, guns for hire, etc).
Casinos and casino operations - Because of the money involved, the personalities drawn into it and the power and clout that it brings to the people behind it, have become one of the main targets and later as one of the main tools of the Mafia. This makes gambling and casino all the more prone to and vulnerable to, as well as strongly connected with, crime and criminal actions. Mafia and organized crime used it as a meeting place were planning regarding criminal actions are undertaken. This gave casinos more bad reputation, considering the disapproval of many people with regards to organized crime and Mafia during their time.
Many events in the history of Mafia in the United States and in the history of law enforcement and criminal actions involving the Mafia involve casinos and gambling. An example of pertinent history regarding and connecting Mafia, casinos, gambling and crime is the time and era of the Mafia, Bugsy Siegel and Las Vegas. Siegel is one of the individuals who worked for the Mafia and made sure they were among the first to make the most out of the legalization of gambling in Las Vegas, then a place that is not known for bright lights but a mere dirty, dusty town. This was during the 1930s and the 1940s. Some of the forerunners of casinos include the Flamingo erected in 1946. Soon after, many casinos from different organized crime groups sprouted in what is to be known in Las Vegas as the strip. While gambling was legal, it resulted to many different crimes, some by the Mafia, others by individuals (Albanese, 1995, p. 9).
Nonetheless, organized crime like the Mafia made the most out of the casinos. The penchant for gambling of many individuals used the success of casino operations to hide criminal acts. They used the excessive financial earnings of the casinos to make sure that criminal actions are kept as a secret and allowed to continue without interference from the law, which may go on for quite some time. Sooner or later, someone would blow the whistle on them and the string of criminal acts will be exposed in the open, incriminating organized crime members. Once again, this strengthens the fact that casinos and gambling are often strongly connected with crimes and criminal actions.
Over the years, the Mafia has ceased to be in power. The casinos operating today are often those that belong to legit businessmen with a strong business portfolio. This does not mean that organized crime stopped lurking in casinos. Organized crime took a different form, a different shape, but it is nonetheless present in casinos and is still responsible for some of the criminal acts undertaken in the last few years involving gambling and crime. Organized crime still pursued criminal actions from theft to robbery to loan sharking and drug dealing as well as other small or minor criminal actions that prove financially rewarding. Organized crime, after all, is involved in undertakings that are illegal in nature but promises financial reward. Often, the people in the casinos have enough money to employ their services - to rid of loan sharks, launder money, to steal, to sell or pawn personal belongings and other criminal acts. The list is long and the different situations and predicament the people inside casinos are placed into acts as the lifeblood that sustains the existence of organized crime.
iii. Shift and changes in casino culture - Another important set of events connected to and influencing casinos, gaming, gambling and crime is the shift and changes in the casino culture itself. The earliest version of casinos or gambling houses in the US featured the simple combination of drinks, gambling seats and sometimes even women and prostitution. Over time, the culture inside casinos has become more complex. As more and more criminal actions has been identified by law enforcement agencies, all the more these actions move closer and closer to casinos, finding some sort of protective force field inside these gambling houses. This is to consider the fact that many of those involved in these crimes are often found here or operate here (Salinger, 2005, p. 347).
Over the years, casinos have been implicated or were found connected to criminal acts. Soon, law enforcement agencies have been seriously monitoring casinos. There is the belief that this is a place teeming with potential criminal acts, either those that will be committed by criminals who planned the criminal action they will undertake or those who are simply a victim of chance, reacting to an unexpected predicament leading to a criminal act.
On paper, casinos have pledged to fully cooperate with the law and support the law enforcement agencies in their campaign versus criminal acts. Still, there are those who stray from this path. For example, individuals heavily indebted because of losses are killed instead of being sent to court for a case. In some casinos, those who are caught cheating like those involved in card counting often do not end up in cell blocks and behind bars, but in backrooms brutally assaulted, if not killed, by individuals. This is an action deemed necessary by some casino owners and managers in the belief that this is the suitable form of justice. At the same time, this will send the message that will discourage other potential cheaters not to try it in a particular casino.
Because of this, it is no wonder crimes and casinos, gaming and gambling often reflect increasing and worsening cases of criminal actions. Because criminal actions are meant with another form of criminal actions, the punishments are often worse than the offense, the creation of casinos of their own brand of street justice. While casinos are a legitimate business, the need to protect the integrity of the casino requires the need for or the ability for brutal action when necessary, like when they are dealing with criminals themselves, in the process they too become criminals as well.
iv. Casino, gambling crime and the Internet - The continued connection between crimes and the gambling in casinos is also found in one of the newest additions in the modern way of life in the twenty first century the internet. The internet has become so pervasive through the years that it has managed to penetrate many different aspects of social life, and that includes casino and gambling. Because of that, it has reached many different new market and target individuals. Along the way, it exposed more people to the tendencies, predicaments and situations that can potentially lead them to criminal actions, not to mention the connection of casinos to cyber crimes. Today, gambling locations in the US are responding positively to the entry of internet in the gambling world (Koeppel, 2002, p. 86). For example, Nevada recently legalized online gambling (Koeppel, 2002, p. 86). It is not surprising if many followed suit.
People can directly use the internet to commit a crime related to gambling and casino. This particular feature can also be used by casino itself to promote gambling. The resulting impact may include the tendencies of individual to commit crimes. For example, an individual can suffer from huge debts because of online casino. To address these debts, the individual is forced to an act of robbery, or was sued because of his inability to pay for loans and debts he or she has incurred over time. There are many other examples. However, this merely points out to the presence of many different events in recent history about the experiences of individuals who are involved in criminal acts in lieu with casinos and gambling.
v. Mass media - The history and the events in the mass media and mass communication practices are also significant in the analysis and identification of the events significant to the connection of crime and casinos. This is because through the mass media and mass communication, more and more stories were revealed and told to the people, about casinos, about chronic gamblers, about the plight of victims of casino and gambling related crimes, etc. This set of events have brought the concept of the connection of crime and casinos closer to the consciousness of the people and thus prompted more action from the government and vigilance from the public. This opened the eyes of the people. More importantly, they also help create a set of documentations regarding crime and the casinos through the reports that news agencies made, through the movies filmmakers make about casinos and crime, etc (Salinger, 2005, p. 347). As seen in many organized crime movies, casino operations were heavily impacted by organized crime (Salinger, 2005, p. 347).
Casinos and gaming and gambling and crime an overview
In the issue of gambling and crimes, casinos often figure significantly in this aspect considering many different aspects. First, casinos involve more money. This means there is a bigger reason for individuals involved in the crime to pursue the course of action they decided upon. Second, because casinos are filled with rich people who have a particular weakness, an individual can be exploited. Such exploitation can be financially beneficial and rewarding to the individual. When the rich people returns to their senses, often, they realize they were exploited, and in some cases, try to get back at the person that exploited them.
The third consideration is because casinos bring in two kinds of people those with money and those who want to have money and those who are willing to lose money and those who want to have a share of that money coming out of someone elses pocket. Because of greed the rapacious characteristics of individuals and the number of individuals competing for this money, the outcome often is not so good and everything turns ugly.
The fourth consideration why casinos and gambling and crime are always inter-related and interconnected with one another is because of the fact that casinos is a place that brings together many different groups and that mix is always recipe for crime. There are loan sharks. There are the prostitutes and their pimps. An example is an event that happened in 1985 written in a section of a book talking about typical casino nights in the US (Mizell, 1997, p. 105). When police arrested Kenny Graham in 1985 he was charged and convicted of conspiring to procure females for prostitution (Mizell, 1997, p. 105).
There are potential criminals who are planning to rob the casino or an individual coming from there. There are individuals spying on the lifestyle of rich and popular individuals who has a secret habit of gambling, and the possible retaliation of these people who threatens to break open to the public this particular information. There are drug couriers as well as federal law enforcement agents who are made vulnerable by the temptation of money and being able to be involved in this kind of life in exchange for cooperation. In turn, the DEA and other law enforcement agencies will turn this former police officer into a potential criminal if proven guilty of possible actions in relation to gambling and negligence of duty and even abuse of power. There is the presence of groups considered as organized crime entities which focus from small operations to large transactions - money laundering, drugs, gun s for hire, human smuggling and trafficking, etc.
They particularly choose to operate in places like the casinos and gaming spots. Here, police and law enforcement units are not obviously visible (considering the fact that some individuals are deterred from committing or participating in a crime when law enforcement units are in plain sight). Power brokers and power players of the society, the influential, and the whos who, mingle and gamble. Having too many big egos in one room lends itself to the possibility that sooner or later each others egos get in the way of each other. The weaker of the colliding egos eventually is removed. Sometimes it takes a criminal action to do that. Here, everyone gets to have anything as long as they can pay for it - alcohol, a play thing for sex, drugs etc.
Here in casinos, people have the feeling that because they have money, they can do anything and can get away with anything, not realizing that when they step outside, they are back to the real world where law is enforced. The culture of gambling and crime is strongly pervasive in casinos. Individuals are pushed to different extreme levels of emotion that often clouds the mind and hampers the ability for good, sound, solid, rationale thinking.
People who win often experience a certain high, a state of euphoria that makes the person addicted to the feeling. It forces the person to return to casinos and gambling, and as is the case often. Sooner or later the person is bound to lose and suffer financially, which puts the individual in another different and opposite level of emotion - depression, desperation, anxiety etc. This is caused by the need to recover from the losses, the need to be able to remain in control of responsibilities, including incurred and unpaid debts. This desperation often makes the individual susceptible to being amenable to actions which in turn can lead to one criminal act to another. Movies vivify the nature and extent of polar human emotions and how these emotions are strongly connected to gambling, casinos and crime. The statistics offered by law enforcement agencies regarding crime and gambling provides proof that fiction is never far from the truth.
Casinos has contributed significantly to state and national productivity and has helped many people by providing jobs and by being one of the many sources of money from acts of corporate philanthropy. However, the downside of casinos and gambling is that it is often strongly connected with the problem on crime and criminal acts. Providing the proof for this claim is the literature written about casinos and crime, the history of crimes related to casinos and gambling and the police reports and police statistics . This strengthens the claim that crime and casinos has its own way of being strongly connected with one another through the years, owed in part to the innate similarities and ties shared by people behind criminal acts and the nature of casinos and the people found inside it.
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