Datelines

Mar 1, 1998 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

New Orleans - Last month, after an extensive undercover investigation dating back to Dec. 26, 1997, Louisiana State Police issued 21 citations to riverboat casinos for underage gambling, according to The Times-Picayune. The investigation was conducted on 13 riverboat casinos in Louisiana. State Police Lt. Dane Morgan attributed the problem to inadequate security controls and simple human error. In one instance, a mother slipped her 7-year-old boy past a security guard at the casino entrance and set him up at a slot machine to gamble. Surveillance immediately spotted the child and escorted both mother and child off the boat.

Memphis, Tenn. - Police officials say serious crime dropped 8.9 percent in 1997 over the previous year, reports The Commercial Appeal. Much of the credit, say the police, goes to a combination of community policing and sophisticated computer analysis that helps put officers where they are needed most. Even though the rate of offenses such as homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, larceny, burglary and vehicle theft has decreased, a study by the Memphis-Shelby Crime Commission recommends adding 200 police officers a year for the next several years. The study suggests that such a move would yield a "profoundly positive" return on the $7 million investment, according to the report.

Lakeland, Fla. - "Datelines" noted last summer that Lakeland was testing the use of CCTV to deter crime at a public housing project and had hoped to expand the usage to city streets and shopping center parking lots. Now, The Tampa Tribune reports, the city has decided the project is too expensive - $618,000 for the first phase that would have installed 20 cameras at 15 locations. Installation of fiber-optic cable and electric lines accounted for much of the expense. City Commissioner Don Gifford said he still believes in the concept and thinks the city should try again when digital camera technology makes the project cheaper, the Tribune reports.

Tokyo - A Japanese left-wing group, Kakumeigun, claimed responsibility for a Feb. 2 missile attack on Tokyo's Narita airport, saying the attack defeated the Olympic security operation, reports the French Press Agency. The three missiles that fell on the airport slightly injured a cargo handler but caused little other damage. Six thousand police officers were employed in the security effort for the 16-day Winter Olympics in Nagano, the agency reports. Bergen County, N.J. - Personal computers have been disappearing from office desktops with alarming regularity in Fort Lee and Edgewood Cliffs, reports The Record. In the latter city, nearly $90,000 in computer equipment has been stolen since January 1997. Laptop computers are the most popular item for burglars, because of their portability, says The Record, but printers and personal organizers have also been stolen. The thieves usually strike at night, and police believe they gain entry by following unsuspecting cleaning crews into a building. According to the report, police have at least one lead - surveillance videotape of a suspect.

Hartford, Conn. - Town officials have documented 26 instances in which the security company hired to monitor alarms in schools, libraries and other municipal buildings did not call the town's Emergency Reporting Center within 60 seconds, as required by contract, according to The Hartford Courant. To save a contract that pays $119,902 per year for monitoring, the company expanded the capacity of its equipment and installed additional communications lines.

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