The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

A8 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday January 5,2000 Slot machines blamed for rising crime Halton Police say Mohawk Raceway source of huge increase By Sandra Omand SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The installation of slot machines at Mohawk Raceway is being blamed for a dramatic increase in crime and is putting a strain on police resources. A report presented to the Halton Regional Police Services Board last week said since the introduction of the slot machines in 1997 there has been a 1020% increase in crime at the raceway as people arrive in droves to gamble on the machines. "If those calls don't significantly decrease, we will need another two officers and will seek more funds," said Halton Regional Police Chief Ean Algar. To offset additional policing costs caused by the casi no, the Town of Milton has promised the service $50,000 quarterly, up to a total of $200,000 a year, to provide two additional patrol officers and one cruiser for the area. This agreement will be reviewed in June 2000. In a telephone interview Milton Mayor Gord Krantz said the money from his town was never intended to be a perma nent police fund. Krantz said the funding is not meant to last "forever and a day" and if the number incidents go down the fund ing will cease. While the increase in incidents at the raceway is indis putable, he said, using percentages to describe them can be misleading. To illustrate his point Krantz said if you have one inci dent one year then two the next that represents a 100% increase, but it in real terms it is only one more incident. "It all depends on what spin a person wants to put on it," said Krantz. This year there were 102 reported police occurrences at the raceway between Aug. 23rd and Nov. 30th, com pared to only 10 during the same period in 1998 and just nine in 1997. O f these incidents, the most serious involved counter feiting, theft, liquor offences, break and enters, assaults and one sexual assault. During this time there has also been an 11.3% increase in crime in the community surrounding the raceway. The report noted that while the increase cannot be unequivo cally linked to the raceway, the addition of slot machines is the only variable in that zone since 1997. Traffic accidents on Guelph Line, according to the report, also increased from an average of 21 during the 100-day period in 1997 and 1998 to 46 in 1999 repre senting a 230% increase. Krantz said to pay for the extra policing, the Town will be using some of the revenue generated by the casino. He said revenue generated by slot machines at Mohawk race way was originally estimated to be between $1.1 to $1.5 million, but is now expected to exceed that. O f that amount, a portion is given to the Town of Milton. Using a complicated formula, the provincial govern ment will give the Town 5% of the profits on the first 450 machines and 2% off the remaining 300 machines. The money is to be put into a slot revenue reserve and Krantz said there is a firm policy on how the funds are to be spent. Apparently all 13 communities in Ontario agreed, when they welcomed casinos into their towns, to com pensate for any extra demand on services those casinos created and, Krantz noted, the police service is one of those. Police services board member Jack Brewer comment ed that the agreement worked out between the Halton Regional Police and Milton is a good example of the userpay system. To date, no money has been received, however, the Ontario Lottery Corporation said a cheque should be delivered by the middle of January. Police, meanwhile, are hoping that with the opening of a new casino in Brantford and possible installation of slot machines at Elmira Raceway, Flamborough Raceway and Woodbine, business at Mohawk Raceway will dimin ish and restore police workloads to previous levels. "If these other venues open round and about the province they may take some of these customers away and the problem may level off," said Halton Police Services Board chair Don Robinson. Photo by Peter C. McCusker With the weather feeling more like spring than January, Yvan Courtemanche of Orsett Court, decided the time was right to remove Santa and his sleigh from the roof. An early end to winter? Don't count on i t SEASONAL WORK: F in d m i R S T F o r d Can 825-TIPS or 1-800-668-5151 And find every.newAandiUsed vehicle on the loft reduced ft© clear! ATV stolen from shed T hieves have hit a Tennyson D rive residence and w alked aw ay w ith an ATV. P erhaps you can help solve this crim e. B e t w e e n N ovem ber 12th and 14th, su s p ects en tered the yard o f a re sid en ce at Tennyson Drive and entered an unlocked shed. The ATV was secure in the shed, but the th ie f cut aw ay at the chain and left w ith the ATV. The m achine is a 1998 Suzuki LT80 and is white w ith p u r ple accents. The serial num ber is on file w ith police. The value of the ATV is a p p r o x im a te ly $2,530. If you think you know who stole this recre ational vehicle, give C rim e Stoppers a call. If you have any inform ation that leads to an arrest in this or any other case, you may be e li gible for a cash rew ard. You need not give your nam e, and y o u r in fo rm a tion can be taken with com p lete an o n y m i ty. C rim e S to ppers does not subscribe to call display. C a ll 1-8 0 0 222-T IP S or 825-TIPS (8258477) · · Every ne w 2000 car and truck, and entire used inventory is priced for real boxing w eek savings for a huge year-end clearance. Check us out online at w w w .kennedvford.com Only 5 1 D e m o s 9 9 Convertible Mustang e* . gt E x p lo r e r 9 9 U ^ e d 99 Taurus Sedan 9 9 f 150 Pickup 9 9 Ranger A ll priced w e ll b e lo w ke, v a \u ei ' f e Original in Ford Country 280 South Service Road West, Oakville, Ontario L6K 3X5, 905 845-1646. Ad disclaimer hotline: 905 845-1646 ext. 210 Visit us online at www.kennedyford.ca