Lots of cash flows in first half year; jobs rise in Detroit

More than 6,000 people are working at MotorCity and MGM Grand Detroit in jobs that didn't exist before and nearly 3 million visitors have poured into formerly vacant buildings, enlivening areas once deserted after dark.

But one person committed suicide inside MotorCity after a gambling binge, and social agencies say they're seeing the fallout from easier access to casinos.

Before the arrival of casinos, backers said they would bring taxes, jobs, visitors and new life to the city. They said casinos would halt the flow of money to Casino Windsor.

Opponents said casinos would increase crime, compulsive gambling and traffic while driving out other local entertainment.

Six months might be too soon to know what effect casinos will have on Detroit, but so far, it has been a mixed blessing, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

As they said they would, the two operating casinos have hired more than 3,000 workers each. Several hundred of the hires came from welfare rolls.

Even with another 3,000 jobs to come when the Greektown Casino is expected to open this spring, casino employment is a mere ripple in a sea of more than 375,000 jobs in Detroit.

The casinos have contributed a little to falling unemployment rates, state labor analysts say. In the first seven months of 1999, before MGM Grand opened its doors July 29, unemployment in Detroit averaged 7.6 percent, the same as it was in the same period in 1998. MotorCity opened Dec. 14.

In the last five months of 1999, unemployment averaged 6.0 percent, compared to 6.8 percent in the same months of 1998. While not all of that was due to casinos, they helped, analysts said.

The casinos are contributing new taxes to both the city and state, an estimated $23 million and $19 million respectively from their openings through January. The state and city won't say how much money they have received, to protect the casinos' financial privacy.

The casinos in Detroit haven't halted the flow of American gambling dollars to Windsor. Casino Windsor's latest revenue figures show it still rakes in $1.6 million a day, about the same as before Detroit had casinos.

MGM Grand brings in about $1.1 million a day. MotorCity has yet to report figures.

Indian casinos elsewhere in Michigan say they haven't felt any pinch.

The State Police arrested 69 people from July 29 through January inside MGM Grand and another 21 at MotorCity in its first six weeks.

None were for major offenses.

Arrests were for outstanding warrants, cheating the casino, underage drinking and gambling, possession of marijuana, breaking into a slot machine and disorderly conduct, Lt. Morris Brown said.

During the same time period, Detroit police, who handle crimes outside the casinos, reported 10 stolen cars, a few stolen wallets and purses, a robbery police say was faked, and an attempted robbery at a bus stop. Arrests were made in most cases.

Whether or not the data show it yet in large numbers, casino-related crime is on its way to Detroit, said Bill Thompson, a University of Nevada at Las Vegas public administration professor who has studied casinos and crime in cities around the nation.

"All the cheats are going to pick on Detroit for a while, and the lure of easy money is bound to create cheats once the pros start mingling with some of the younger kids," Thompson told The Detroit News for a story Monday.

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