Elk Grove Police Chief addresses concerns about crime and proposed casino

Last Thursday at a community meeting with the Elk Grove Police Department and local residents, Elk Grove Police Chief Bryan Noblett responded to a question about crime increasing if the proposed Wilton Rancheria Casino is built in Elk Grove.  Noblett said the department did a thorough investigation by contacting other law enforcement agencies near other casinos.  Noblett said one of the agencies contacted dealt with a casino located near a mall, similar to what will be the case in Elk Grove.  Noblett also said that he felt that the agreement with the tribe to pay for the impact caused by the casino would mitigate any issues that may come about.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city of Elk Grove and the Wilton Rancheria Tribe, calls or the tribe to pay for the impacts of the casino on the city.

The Elk Grove Police Department will receive:

• Police and Code Enforcement services – $1,500,000 annually with a 2% annual inflationary adjustment for Police, Code Enforcement and related City service impacts. These payments are meant to offset staffing and service impacts on the City associated with the Facility. Sixty percent of the total payments are considered direct mitigation to address both on-reservation and off-reservation potential crime impacts, while the remaining forty percent is considered an additional contribution made for the purpose of providing additional and improved services to the residents of the City. The total payments by the Tribe for these services over the first twenty years of the MOU are calculated to be approximately $36,446,055.
• Police equipment – $250,000 for Police vehicles and equipment.

Video of Chief Noblett’s response