Security issues weighed by panel
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – From cheating gamblers to dishonest casino employees, many people will be looking for ways to profit illegally when the state’s new slot-machine casinos go online, consultants and police warned the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday. The discussion of security issues included a lengthy presentation by the Pennsylvania State Police, which gave examples of how other states have tackled such problems.
“What I found sobering in a sense, but very reassuring, is there’s a way to do it,” said board member Joseph W. “Chip” Marshall III.
State Police Lt. Col. Ralph M. Periandi predicted that criminal activity surrounding casinos will range from assaults and disorderly conduct to loan sharking and more complex criminal enterprises such as money laundering and conspiracy.
The threat of terrorism at casinos – institutions viewed by some as emblematic of American capitalism and popular culture – also is something the board should plan for, said consultant Tom Sterling.
“You might think in Pennsylvania we don’t have to worry about that, but in Las Vegas (such threats) are taken deadly serious,” said Sterling, president of Information Services Group Inc. in New Cumberland.
Casinos run extensive surveillance operations of their own, but the state will still have to establish some form of independent monitoring, said Sterling. He urged the commission to establish stringent standards early on to guard against those who specialize in finding and exploiting weaknesses in new gambling enterprises.
“There’s kind of a clique, if you will, of people who go around cheating gaming operations. And they’re international,” Sterling said.
Marshall noted that the casinos’ monitoring systems were primarily a form of deterrence, not protection.
“I just don’t want people leaving with the impression (that) if we have all these high-tech cameras, we won’t have problems,” he said.
Sterling described the laborious process of conducting background checks for as many as 27,000 potential employees of casinos, manufacturers, suppliers and other related businesses. Some checks could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, although the expense is expected to be borne by the applicants.
“This is very much a game of hide-and-seek, and if someone has something to hide, they’re going to try and hide it from you,” Sterling said.
Checking into the background of nationally prominent gambling companies and their principal officers may be relatively easy, because they operate in other states that perform their own security screenings, he said. But others may require extensive investigation that could entail foreign trips and contact with numerous friends and associates.
Pennsylvania State Police Capt. Ron Petyak, who heads the department’s Office of Gaming Enforcement, suggested that $31,000 fingerprinting machines could be installed at each casino to speed processing.
In other states, about 40 percent of applicants fail the required screening due to false disclosure, poor credit or criminal records, he said.
“Almost all the states involved in the gambling industry identify wanted persons at (the application) stage and they’re taken into custody,” Petyak said.
The sessions Tuesday and Wednesday were the first board meetings since the Legislature approved up to 61,000 slot machines at 14 venues – race tracks, resorts and stand-alone venues. Chairman Tad Decker said the next meeting will likely take place in mid to late January.
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On the Net:
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: http://www.pgcb.state.pa.us