CasinosNO! links crime rise, slots Bangor police officials say drug use a more likely catalyst for higher rate

BANGOR – While a group opposed to casinos in Maine is insinuating that Hollywood Slots may have been responsible last year for a 22 percent increase in Bangor’s crime rate, police officials are saying otherwise.

“The Bangor Police Department has no evidence that the increase in crime is tied to the casino,” Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said Thursday. He said there is no difference in reporting methods than in previous years.

“There are other factors that could play into an increase,” Arno said. “Foremost among them is a drug problem in the [region].”

Arno said he does not blame the three methadone clinics in Bangor, but added that he is unaware of any other city in Maine or New England that is home to that number of clinics.

“It’s evidence that there is a drug issue within the region,” he said.

Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNO!, said in a news release Thursday that there has been a “sharp rise” in the number of larcenies, which includes thefts, reported in the city.

Arno did not dispute that there has been an increase in thefts in the area, but said there wasn’t any way to connect it to Hollywood Slots.

The facility’s general manager, Jon Johnson, said Thursday that he has worked in the gaming industry for 32 years throughout the country and has never seen a correlation between an increase in crime and the operation of a casino.

“Personally, I don’t believe it’s ever going to be an issue,” Johnson said. “I have never seen an increase in crime associated with gaming.”

The casino opened in its temporary location in November 2005 with 475 slot machines. Its permanent facility is being built down the street.

“People that we’ve arrested haven’t said, ‘I’m out here stealing because I have a gambling problem,'” Arno said.

Bailey said he does not expect the connection to show up in police reports, but that the issue needs to be studied because theft, bankruptcies, domestic violence and suicides often are related to gambling debts.

“We’re not suggesting a direct link between the increase in crime and the operation of Hollywood Slots,” Bailey said in the release.

“I’m suggesting that we need to study it before we approve more slot machines for Maine,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “It’s worth taking some time to examine what is going on in Bangor.”

Nearby Brewer saw a 15 percent increase in its crime rate, but Bailey said it’s difficult to tell exactly what caused the increase in the cities.

“It’s difficult to categorize crimes related to casinos,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any way to know if those are related to the casino without more study and more analysis.”

He did say it’s time to throw out the idea that with casinos come jobs and with a decrease in unemployment comes a decrease in the crime rate.

“I think we can put that to rest,” Bailey said.

While Penobscot County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly from 5.1 percent to 4.9 percent between 2005 and 2006, the crime rate in Bangor increased.