October 21, 2002
'Follow the money' to track down crime
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___ARLINGTON--Gambling creates a fertile climate for corruption and crime, several speakers told a national meeting of gambling opponents.
___Mini-casinos--bars, restaurants and obscure storefront sites with dozens of electronic gambling devices--proliferate in part because owners succeed in "co-opting law enforcement," said Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Tim Gallagher.
___"They hire off-duty cops as security guards" and offer them free food and drinks, Gallagher told the annual meeting of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion in Arlington.
___Police officers may not intentionally "tip off" mini-casino owners about upcoming raids, Gallagher said. But when an officer who works in a mini-casino says he is not sure when he will be able to pull security duty again, the owner typically figures out what that means.
___"There are some places in Dallas County we've been playing cat and mouse with for six months," he acknowledged.
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___In 16 months, Dallas County law enforcement has seized more than 2,000 eight-liner video gambling machines, he noted. Gallagher estimated that of the 254 counties in Texas, only 20 to 30 are aggressively prosecuting illegal eight-liners.
___Even in jurisdictions with zealous prosecutors, operators run the risk because benefits are so great, he noted. For instance, one raid of a mini-casino in Garland removed 70 machines that were providing the operator $110,000 a week in profit.
___"That's better than the dope peddlers make, and it's only a misdemeanor," Gallagher said.
___Law enforcement officials suspect some store owners are intimidated into allowing the eight-liners in their businesses by organized crime, he said.
___Gambling also creates a climate for political corruption, or at least legislative irresponsibility, insisted Texas State Rep. Talmadge Heflin, R-Houston.
___The hollow promises of tax revenue from gambling operations give some lawmakers a way around having to make hard choices about spending and taxation, he added. "Gambling is a lure to the politician."
___Weston Ware, past president of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling and longtime associate with the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, pointed to the Texas Lottery Commission as an example of the problems that occur when government gets in the business of promoting gambling.
___The day before the national coalition met, Linda Cloud abruptly announced her resignation as executive director of the Texas Lottery after admitting she had lied about information regarding a lottery commissioner. She became the third commission director to resign under controversial circumstances.
___"I'm not surprised. When you have an agency that is built on smoke and mirrors, you have to expect that something like this can occur," said Ware, a spokesman for Texans Against Gambling.
___Scott Harshbarger, president of Common Cause and former attorney general of Massachusetts, said the battle against gambling is "a classic money and politics issue."
___Harshbarger challenged gambling opponents to make their voices heard and force a public debate on the issue.
___"In a democracy, we don't all have the right to win. We do all have the right to be heard," he said, urging the anti-gambling activists to organize at the grassroots and build coalitions with like-minded groups.
___"You are on the right side with the right values. Remember, reform is not for the short-winded. The people can trump money."
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