UNR researchers receive grant to study impact of gambling on crime

Researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno have received a $250,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to find out.

UNR professors Grant Stitt, a chairman of the criminal justice department, and Mark Nichols, of the university's Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming, will conduct the study along with criminal justice professor David Giacopassi of the University of Memphis.

"The findings of previous studies have been inconclusive and contradictory," Stitt said. "We're trying to find out the truth. We're going to be doing objective, unbiased scientific research and we'll report what the facts show."

"Our whole objective is to do a thorough analysis of the subject," Nichols added.

The researchers next week plan to visit seven locations in the Midwest where casino gambling has been legal for less than five years.

The research will focus on the influence of casinos on all crimes, citizens' perceptions of changes in crime and quality of life, as well as social issues such as divorce and suicide rates and various economic indicators.

"Though a major dependent variable is crime, the quality of life issues and the effects on the community are equally important," Stitts said. "The results should be invaluable for future policy decisions made at the community level."

Preliminary findings are expected by the end of the year.

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