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Wanna screw up a nice neighborhood? Open a VL casino.
Video Lottery phone booth casino robberies may keep our cops busy (in between eating their free meals at the hospitals and McDonald’s parking lot breaks) but the social costs are starting to outweigh the revenue benefits. When are South Dakota lawmakers gonna wake up and realize this?
Robbers targeting video lottery businesses in Sioux Falls and across the state probably represent a cyclical problem and not a new concern in crime, law enforcement officials say.
Doesn’t that say it all right there? Should we wait until someone gets hurt or killed before we accept that this is an unacceptable way to fund government?
Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens doesn’t think the trend points to a rise in robberies or indicates that casinos have become more popular or vulnerable targets.
What?! Casino robberies have ALWAYS been a common occurrence in Sioux Falls, and the more casino’s, the more robberies. I have three, yeah, three within a block from my house, one literally in my neighbor’s backyard. Every summer, that one usually gets hit once a month. Their solution two years ago was to put flood lights on the place that are lit up until the casino closes at night. Before my neighbor put up his privacy fence, his backyard was lit up like a fireworks display. Some may say this is the best way to prevent crime (never mind that the rest of the neighborhood is pitch black for blocks and blocks). I have a better solution. Get rid of the casino.
Though no arrests have been made, a Sioux Falls Police SWAT team and investigators served a search warrant Thursday afternoon on a home near 11th Street and Van Eps Avenue.
Yeah, so now, not only do we have to put up with thieves running through our back yards we also have military vehicles driving around our neighborhoods and storming homes with machine guns. Nice.
Kay’s Casino, at 1506 W. 41st St., has been robbed twice this year. The first occurred Jan. 21 when two men, one armed with a pistol, entered the casino and demanded money.
Let’s face it, the only people making money off of VL is the people who own the casinos. The money the state takes in is probably quickly spent on imprisonment, court costs and law enforcement. There is also other costs involved with VL. Bankruptcy, suicide, embezzlement (leaving some kids father or motherless in turn putting them on Medicaid or Social Security). I think casinos should be fined every time they are robbed, $5,000 for endangering our community. I also think the casino should have to pay all the court costs involved with prosecuting the criminals. Obviously casino’s are not taking measures to keep the public and their employees safe, so it is time to put their money where their mouth is. There is also another enabler in this snafu, our state and local lawmakers. I will give kudos to city councilor Knudson for being a strong advocate of limiting video lottery in Sioux Falls and pushing to pass ordinances that challenge state law, it is good start. Sometimes the Quen Be gets it.
I don’t see anything positive about VL, and it is time to end this stupid f’ing experiment.
Funny thing is, any time the progressive city of Sioux Falls tries to limit the expansion of phone booth casinos in town, the state gov’t has a fit over it because they rely on SF VL revenue to remain solvent.
While residents of SF and Minnehaha county get to pay the social costs.
Exactly. That way the rest of the state can claim that the “big city” is a cesspool – just look at the number of armed robberies!
Well I have no skin in the game since I don’t frequent VL parlors… but I have a couple of questions:
How much does a VL license cost?
Who typically owns these places (I see them all over town)
How much would it cost the VL owners to HAVE to install security cameras – and would that be a good idea?
Most VL casinos have cameras. Look close, most are fake (box with red light). Why invest in an expensive security system when you keep only $1000 on hand and pay attendants minimum wage? Who owns these, organized crime and cloaked corporations (politicians). I’ve been to a few. If you’re upset about one in your neighborhood, walk in wearing a stocking cap and trenchcoat when it’s 100 degrees outside. Customer’s can’t leave fast enough.
Funny, I have thought about going in there and ‘bugging’ them whenever I can. Like asking if I can have a free beer while I play, and only put in a dollar and pretend to play while I drink 3-4 beers. I have come close to filing a formal complaint about them and their stupid flood lights and all the robberies and ask the planning commission to shut them down. The other thing that always cracks me up about the place is that I have lived in my house for 6 years and it’s always the same cars in the parking lot. No exageration.