There is much debate and question regarding the possible inception of gambling in Rockaway Beach. The discourse has been filled with much opinion with little supporting evidence. I am pleased to take this opportunity to offer a survey of some literature that I discovered via the Johns Hopkins University Library System.
Stitt, Nichols and Giacopassi (2003) studied twelve communities, six of which have casinos and six of which do not. “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.” It was concluded that, “…crime does not inevitably increase with the introduction of a casino into a community.” Other literature indicates this as well, the point being that crime may increase or may not depending on a variety of factors, none of which is well understood or very predictable. An underlying assumption is that crime might just as well go up if there is no casino, for the crime rate of some of the six non-casino communities went up as well. Much of the research seems to indicate that, while crime did increase in some casino communities, it was not the type of crime citizens feared the most (e.g., murder, rape, assault and etc.). Instead, so-called white collar crimes seemed to increase. Things like embezzlement and fraud.
Thalheimer and Ali (2004) studied the effects of casino gaming on personal bankruptcy and found that “availability by individuals to pari-mutuel wagering or casino gaming was found to have no statistically significant impact on personal bankruptcy filings. Again, the literature seems to indicate that, in those areas with legalized gambling, bankruptcies may go up or down, but not as a result of gambling.
Garrett (2004) studied employment trends in both rural and metropolitan areas. He found that, “…in three of four cases [of communities studied], rural counties that adopted casino gaming experienced increases in household and payroll employment.” In general, the literature that I found seems to uphold the developers’ contention that their presence will increase employment for the community.
These are some of the results I found. I hope that it assists people in making a decision on August 5th [3rd]. Lon, Branson, MO