DCI Shifts Focus to Casino Gaming Enforcement
Don Smith joined the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation?s gaming unit after serving as a trooper with the Iowa State Patrol. He works at Terrible?s Lakeside Casino and Resort in Osceola and is among a growing number of DCI agents at riverboat and racetrack casinos.
One of his duties is to make sure cards are not marked or altered. He?s checking a deck with Terrible?s employee Jan Jones. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, traditionally known as the state's major crime-fighting force, is increasingly becoming a casino enforcement agency, with more agents working on gambling than on general crime cases. The DCI has 83 agents aboard 11 riverboats and at three racetrack casinos, including 32 agents hired since December.
About 20 more will be added to gambling posts this summer and fall, as the agency fills vacancies and handles the openings of newly licensed casinos, said Assistant DCI Director Joe Diaz, who oversees gambling-related law enforcement. "Everybody that we are hiring now goes straight to the Gaming Bureau. Those are now our entry-level positions," Diaz said.
One new casino in Worth County opened in April, while another opened to the public on Monday in Emmetsburg. Others are due to open in September in Riverside and next spring in Waterloo. The Gaming Bureau is already much larger than the DCI's general criminal investigation unit, which has 49 agents and supervisors handling homicides, sexual assaults and other major felony cases. However, the DCI still places a high priority on solving major crimes and has been adding agents in specialty areas, Diaz said.
May 31, 2006
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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