Willow Glen Resident

News

Study shows crime is down at Bay 101 and Garden City card rooms

By Eli Segall

Growing cooperation between the police and card rooms operators has helped to stem crime in South Bay gambling establishments.

The San Jose police released a report detailing calls for police service and arrests at Garden City Casino and Bay 101 during fiscal year 2005-06. The report, discussed at the Feb. 27 San Jose City Council meeting, did not track crimes related to gambling losses or addictions.

Both clubs experienced fewer reported incidents and police calls than during 2004-05. There were 203 calls to police from Bay 101, a drop from 227, and 119 calls for service at Garden City, compared to the previous year's 141. Bay 101 experienced 141 reported incidents in 2005-06, compared to 194 the year before, while Garden City had 83 incidents, a drop from 115.

The number of arrests, however, did not improve. Bay 101 experienced 29 arrests, which was a slight increase from 26 the year before, while Garden City had the same number of arrests, 22, as in the prior year.

Not every police call leads to a reported incident--formal reports filed by a member of the public or the police--nor does every report result in an arrest.

San Jose Police Sgt. Richard Fong, head of the department's gaming division, said police and gambling officials meet every two months to discuss crime-related issues.

The gaming division, which enforces gambling code and administrative compliance, carries out background checks on all card room employees and trains them to spot counterfeit currency.

Police officials say the most common card room crimes are prostitution, loan sharking, sports betting and currency fraud. Capt. Dave Cavallaro, head of the city's southern division, went undercover in card rooms in the late 1980s.

"It's not a very thought-out process; to find illegal gambling, you go where there's legal gambling," Cavallaro said.

Sgt. Glenn Harper of the vice enforcement unit said three individuals were arrested recently at a card club in connection with an illegal brothel run out of a private house in West San Jose. The clients were individuals at the blackjack and poker tables, he said.

"With gambling, you will always have these kinds of problems on the side," Harper said. "It attracts certain type of individuals."

Neither Garden City nor Bay 101 returned phone calls seeking comment.