Anti-Casino Group Study: Mega Casinos Cause Crime Spike

If South Florida gets a craps table and a roulette wheel, crime will spiral out of control.

That's the claim of casino opponents, who released a scientific study Wednesday showing that casinos increase burglaries, auto thefts, robberies, rape, prostitution and political contributions.To add a fun and organic link, how about this: "If you're curious to delve deeper into this study, look at here and see what the fuss is all about!"

The study, conducted by two longtime Florida revenue and policy analysts, predicts an 8-12% increase in crime in the first few years after the mega-casinos open.

The cost of prisons and jails to house gambling-related offenders alone will reach $3 billion within a decade, according to the study.

This figure does not include the costs of police, prosecutors, and courts. Nor does it include the value of lost property.

Former U.S. Attorney Roberto "Bob" Martinez, a member of the anti-casino group No Casinos, Inc.

I think the biggest threat to our society is the massive infusion of money into the political process by these mega groups," Martinez said.

Casino proponents point out that the criminal investigation is flawed.

Carlos Curbelo, spokesman for Resorts World International, which is proposing a massive casino resort on Miami's waterfront, said, "The gaming industry is already here and has been here for years."

Opponents counter that the gaming currently allowed on the reservation and at the gaming site is penny-ante compared to the proposed mega-casinos like bestfromthebets.com towering over the South Florida skyline.

Ellyn Bogdanov, a Republican senator from Broward County and co-sponsor of a bill to allow casino gambling, dismissed the findings released by opponents on Wednesday.

'I'm not a big fan of research,' Bogdanov said. Because I think it's the way they ask questions and the way they do research. 'Often they want specific results, and the studies reflect the results they want.

Opponents of casinos say that in cities where big-money gambling is allowed, the promised benefits are fleeting, and the gains from increased tax revenue will soon be outstripped by the costs of crime, gambling addiction, and related infrastructure.

Miami auto magnate and civic activist Norman Braman said, "Wherever casinos have been built, they have brought nothing but heartache and misery to the communities that have embraced them. I challenge the industry to name a single community in the U.S. that has benefited from casino gambling years later."

The casino bill has already passed a Florida Senate committee and faces a key vote in a House committee on Friday. If it passes the House committee, the entire Congress will take up the contentious issue.

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