When Gamblor comes to town: casinos, crime, and problem gambling
Fans of the television show The Simpsons will remember an early episode where a casino opens in Springfield and Marge becomes addicted to gambling.
The episode continues with Marge neglecting the Simpson family and Homer ultimately declaring “the only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it’s time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!”
Oh Gamblor, the problem gambling demon that many fear moves into town when a casino opens. With the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation considering a new casino somewhere in southern Ontario, possibly even Woolwich Township in our region, we started looking for evidence of the link between casinos, crime and the impact on communities.
Do casinos increase crime?
Ontario’s casinos are government owned and operated which likely decreases the presence of organized crime in casinos. Street-level crimes such as money laundering, counterfeiting, theft, assault, robbery, drug dealing, and prostitution sometimes occur in and around casinos. There is disagreement in the research as to whether or not street-level crime increases when a casino opens.
In Ontario there is no clear link between casinos and crime. Since opening casinos in the 1990’s Ontario casino towns have not experienced increased crime. However individuals with criminal records may be attracted casinos. There is a lot of research from outside of Canada that indicates robbery and theft increase when a casino opens. The largest U.S. study on casinos and crime found that crime decreased for the first two years of casino operations and then increased three to five years after a casino opened, spilling over to neighbouring communities. Another U.S. study found that violent crime increased by 10% after a casino opened.
Casinos increase problem gambling
What is clear in the research is that the presence of a casino increased problem gambling in the community. Problem gambling, like any addiction, can lead to crimes such as fraud, theft, drug dealing, or prostitution. The impacts on family can be severe as problem gambling has been linked to increased domestic violence and child abuse.
Casinos decrease social capital
Casinos can erode the level of trust in a community by increasing fear of crime and therefore decreasing social capital. Calls to police reporting suspicious person are greater in casino areas, suggesting people may be less trusting around casinos.
So what can be done to ensure that Gamblor does not take hold of your loved ones? Casinos can take steps to promote responsible gambling including: information to gamblers, casino policies, and the physical casino space.
- Having information on problem gambling visible and available to all gamblers. This includes putting gambling helpline numbers and websites on slot machines
- Limiting the size of bets
- Posting the odds for games and increasing awareness of how random chance works. Just for fun… here’s a great video on how random chance works and how to gamble responsibly (produced by Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia in cooperation with the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre (OPGRC) and in partnership with Addiction Services, Nova Scotia Health and Wellness)
- Not having casino loyalty programs
- Having a no credit policy
- Not serving refreshments at gaming tables or machines
- Training casino staff to identify and intervene with problem gamblers
- Allowing players to set their own loss and time limits
- Closing the casino for at least 6 hours a day
- Having a gambler tracking system that helps identify problem gamblers and sends all gamblers regular statements on their winnings and loses
- Having self exclusion programs that are well promoted and easy to use
The physical casino space
- Having a registration desk where gamblers must sign in and present identification
- Only having one ATM in a casino that does not take credit cards and has a withdrawal limit of $250 dollars per person per day
- Modifying slot machines to eliminate features that encourage excessive play
- Having fewer tables and gaming formats
The discussion about casinos and crime needs to be informed by evidence and we found that alongside problem gambling there are other problems that come with a casino such as the possibility of increased crime and likelihood of social capital decreasing. However some of these impacts can be lessened by casinos implementing best practices in responsible gambling. If Waterloo Region does choose to host a casino considering these best practices could lessen the harmful effects of problem gambling.
Gamblor will happily move in with a casino but we might be able to prevent his neon claws from getting a hold of the community. Do you know of examples where communities have successfully preserved their social capital and prevented the potential negative impacts of casino may bring?
NB: If you are curious about the full list of sources used for this article, email us at info [at] smartoncrime.ca and we’ll send you the whole list!
Keely Phillips is a Masters of Social Work candidate at Wilfrid Laurier University and has spent the past four months completing her practicum placement with WRCPC. She was excited to be able to use her love of The Simpsons to discuss casinos, crime, and problem gambling, marking the second time she has used The Simpsons as academic fodder. Previously, she used The Simpsons in her undergraduate degree to examine the gendered experience of leisure.