Some police, lawmakers divided over targeting gambling
KELLY WIESE
Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - They can be found in bars, truck stops, fraternal organizations, even a laundromat.
Opponents say the video gambling machines are clear violations of state law, but others say it's not that clear-cut, and not all prosecutors are focused on pursuing such cases.
While gambling is generally restricted to Missouri casinos along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, arcade games proliferate across the state. Gambling opponents such as Sen. John Loudon want the state to do more about businesses and organizations with video poker or slot machines that allow users to win money.
But others worry about stepping up enforcement power and the prospect of community leaders hauled away in handcuffs for having a poker machine in their hall.
Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, pledges to fight gambling opponents' efforts to outlaw all such devices. Rather, he wants such machines to be regulated and licensed for use by church and other nonprofit groups.
"I don't want to be known as the one who is the protector of these machines. But I'm also going to be the protector of the fraternal, religious and veterans organizations so they can have some form of gambling," he said. "This group wants to make all gambling illegal. They want to eliminate gambling in the state.
"If they want machines banned, there's going to be a compromise," he said.
The Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control also supports allowing and licensing certain machines and gambling activities for fraternal and religious organizations or similar groups.
But Ernest Raub, an enforcement manager at the Missouri Gaming Commission, expressed concerns about legalizing the machines, saying the equipment still cheats the player, and that the state lacks the staff to properly enforce the law if suddenly thousands more machines are included.
"There's no way in the world the state is going to hire enough people to supervise those sites," he said.
Raub also said the scope of the problem is elusive because there's no centralized system for reporting illegal gambling activity or the results of such tips, though the commission has received about 500 complaints of illegal gambling in the past five years statewide.
A casual observer might not be able to tell if a machine is legal - where a game costs a quarter and when it's over, it's done - or illegal, where tickets or other mechanisms are used to cash in winnings.
That's why a growing segment of law enforcement is working together on the issue.
Holts Summit Police Chief Victor Pitman is heading up a loose coalition of more than 20 agencies across the state that meet and train themselves and others on how to identify an illegal gambling machine and what to do about it.
Also muddying the waters is a past court decision. The Division of Liquor Control seized what it contended was an illegal gambling machine from the Eagles lodge in Jefferson City in 1998, and United Distributors challenged the action.
A Cole County judge ruled agents should not have seized the machine, and an appellate court agreed. But because the Appeals Court decision said agents were not authorized to confiscate anything other than liquor, it did not address whether the machine itself was illegal.
Amusement companies tout that ruling as evidence their devices are acceptable, but those trying to crack down wish the court had addressed the heart of the matter.
"They're reading a lot more into the case law," than is really there, Pitman said.
Loudon, R-Chesterfield, said state officials think they lack the authority to do much and sometimes local police and prosecutors are reluctant to act.
"There needs to be some kind of a state law enforcement effort," he said. "To expect each individual law enforcement agency to have the expertise to sort out the complexity of these issues is perhaps shortsighted."
The Associated Press contacted several Missouri companies that manage coin-operated amusement devices, ranging from video poker to regular arcade games to air hockey. United Distributors and E and K Amusement of Jefferson City, Play Mor Coin-Op of Sullivan, Kinney Amusement and Vending Co. of Springfield and the Missouri Amusement and Music Operators Association all refused to comment publicly on the topic or did not return calls.
But the issue isn't big on everyone's radar. Cole County Sheriff Greg White said his agency hasn't heard of places with illegal gambling devices.
"We haven't seen it occur or had complaints about it," he said.
Loudon says the devices should be pursued because they don't generate tax revenue and they prey on gambling addicts who have voluntarily barred themselves from Missouri's legal casinos. He expects proposed legislation next year.
"This is too large in scope to just ignore," he said. |
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