The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is looking at the impact the new MGM Springfield casino is having on public safety.
It heard Thursday about a study being used as a baseline for the effort. It looks back several years at police department activity in 11 towns.
Christopher Bruce is a crime analysis consultant to the Gaming Commission.
"Together, over the seven-year period that makes up the baseline period, these agencies made over 100,000 arrests, they had over 350,000 non-arrest crime incidents, more than 3 million calls for service, and 89,000 traffic collisions," Bruce told the Commission.
Bruce talked about high crime rates near the casino area in the last three months of 2017. He pointed to a map that shows clustered dots indicating four types of crimes.
"In the radius around where MGM Springfield is located, you know, because of economics, and geography, and a number of other issues, Springfield has had some challenges dealing with crime in that area. It’s gotten better over the seven-year period," Bruce said.
Here is the executive summary from the public safety baseline study for Springfield and surrounding communities. The full report is available here: https://t.co/BWXIKiGPC9 #ResearchAgenda pic.twitter.com/kVAmyJ5yrD
— MA Gaming Commission (@MassGamingComm) October 25, 2018
Bruce said he'll revisit the data in roughly three-month intervals.
Disclosure: MGM has purchased underwriting from New England Public Radio publicizing the company's non-gambling activities. The NEPR newsroom operates independently of the station's development department, and editorial decisions are made without regard to any funding relationships.
