“We want to thank the police for their vigilance and partnership,' MGM Springfield officials said in a statement, adding that they have spent millions of dollars on security. Crime at the casino was comparable to that at the nearby Holyoke Mall ― which had more total crime but less violent crime ― and that it did not have a major effect on the overall crime rates of the area, as some had feared.īut the report suggested that increased public safety measures may have balanced out some potential issues in the immediate area. But they found that the effect of the casino was relatively modest, given its massive scale in the context of the city.

Researchers said the $960 million Springfield facility became one of the area’s highest-crime addresses in the 12 months following its opening in late August 2018. Researchers have not yet released similar data from the more recently opened Encore Boston Harbor in Everett. The findings, delivered Thursday as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission met in Springfield, are the most detailed look to date at crime around a full-service casino in Massachusetts. SPRINGFIELD ― The MGM Springfield casino attracted about as much crime in its first year as “a large shopping mall,” according to research commissioned by state regulators as they seek to understand how the nascent Massachusetts casino industry has affected public safety.

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