This study is an analysis of crime in six new casino communities and compares the crime rates to those found in six noncasino control communities. The experimental and control communities were matched on 15 socioeconomic variables. The crime rates were calculated using resident population and population at-risk, which includes tourists in the crime rate calculations. Both Part I and Part II crimes were analyzed using data encompassing the pre- and postcasino presence. Crime was expected to rise in the casino communities, consistent with routine activity theory and the belief that casinos serve as hot spots for crime. The analysis yielded few consistent findings across the test and control communities. Crime rates increased significantly in some casino communities, some remained relatively stable, and others decreased. The authors conclude that crime does not inevitably increase with the introduction of a casino into a community, but that the effects of casinos on crime appear to be related to a variety of variables which are only poorly understood.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Albanese, J. (1985). The effect of casino gambling on crime. Federal Probation, 48, 39-44.
2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington, DC: Author.
3.
Chang, S. (1996). The impact of casinos on crime: The case of Biloxi, Mississippi. Journal of Criminal Justice, 24, 431-436.
4.
Chesney-Lind, M., & Lind, I. (1986). Visitors as victims: Crimes against tourists in Hawaii. Annals of Tourism Research, 13, 167-191.
5.
Christiansen, E. M. (1999, August). 1998 Gross annual wager. International Gaming and Wagering Business, 20, 17-25.
6.
Cohen, L., & Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588-608.
7.
Curran, J. J. (1995). The house never loses and Maryland cannot win: Why casino gaming is a bad idea. Report presented to the Joint Executive-Legislative Task Force to Study Commercial Gaming Activities in Maryland by the State Attorney General.
8.
Curran, J., & Scarpitti, F. (1991). Crime in Atlantic City: Do casinos make a difference? Deviant Behavior, 12, 431-449.
9.
Gallup Poll. (1996, October 10). St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 1E.
10.
German, J. (1999, June 2). Final report on gaming divides fed commission. Las Vegas Sun, p. 1A.
11.
Glazer, D. (1971). Social deviance. Chicago: Markham.
12.
Grinols, E., Mustard, D., & Dilley, C. (1999). Casinos and crime. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Law and Economics Association, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT.
13.
Giacopassi, D., & Stitt, B. G. (1993). Assessing the impact of casino crime in Mississippi. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 18, 117-131.
14.
Hakim, S., & Buck, A. (1989). Do casinos enhance crime? Journal of Criminal Justice, 17, 409-416.
15.
Hartigan, J., & Wong, M. A. (1979). A k-means clustering algorithm. Applied Statistics, 28, 100-108.
16.
Jarrell, S., & Howsen, R. (1990). Transient crowding and crime. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 49, 483-493.
Kennedy, L., & Forde, D. (1990). Routine activities and crime: An analysis of victimization in Canada. Criminology, 28, 137-152.
19.
Messner, S., & Blau, J. (1987). Routine leisure activities and rates of crime: A macro-level analysis. Social Forces, 65, 1035-1051.
20.
Miethe, T., Stafford, M., & Long, J. (1987). Routine activities/lifestyle and victimization. American Sociological Review, 52, 184-194.
21.
Miller, J., & Schwartz, N. (1998). Casino gambling and street crime. Annals, 556, 124-137.
22.
National Gambling Impact Study Commission. (1999). Final report. Retrieved from www.ngisc.gov/index.html
23.
National Opinion Research Center. (1999). Overview of national survey and community database research on gambling behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Rose, I. N. (1991). The rise and fall of the third wave: Gambling will be outlawed in forty years. In W. Eadington & J. Cornelius (Eds.), Gambling and public policy: International perspective (pp. 65-84). Reno, NV: Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming.
25.
Sampson, R., & Wooldredge, J. (1987). Linking the micro- and macro dimension of lifestyle-routine activity and opportunity models of predatory victimization. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 3, 371-393.
26.
Sherman, L., Gartin, P., & Buerger, M. (1989). Hot spots of predatory crime: Routine activities and the criminology of place. Criminology, 27, 27-55.
27.
Stitt, B. G., Giacopassi, D., & Nichols, M. (2000). The effect of casino gambling on crime in new casino jurisdictions. Journal of Crime and Justice, 33(1), 1-23.
28.
Thompson, W., Gazel, R., & Rickman, D. (1996). Casinos and crime in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Policy Institute Report, 9(9), 1-20.
29.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1993). 1990 census of population. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
30.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1994). County and city data book. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
31.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (1995). U.S. travel survey 1995. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
32.
Wilson, J. (2001). Riverboat gambling and crime in Indiana: An empirical investigation. Crime & Delinquency, 47(4), 610-640.
