Parx officials tell state of child-abandonment deterrents

HARRISBURG - Although the number of arrests of people leaving young children unsupervised in vehicles while they gamble inside Parx has slowed from a year ago, members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said the casino could do more.

Among the board's recommendations: bike patrols to regularly survey the casino's vast parking lot, highway billboards warning adults of the penalties, and the involvement of local child welfare officials after such an arrest is made.

All are intended "to make sure these irresponsible parents get the message," Gaming Board chairman Gregory C. Fajt said during Thursday's gaming board meeting, where Parx officials were summoned to indicate how they were dealing with the problem.

"For whatever reason, your casino is more afflicted by this problem" than the others in the state, Fajt said. "This segment of the population does not seem to get it, and they need to get the message."

The board's recommendations came in light of two additional arrests of adults charged with endangering the welfare of children last month while gambling inside the Bensalem casino. The incidents brought the total to 10 adults charged at Parx since mid-February 2010 - the most among the 10 Pennsylvania casinos.

Appearing before the seven-member board, Thomas Bonner, Parx vice president and general counsel, said that since September 2010:

* The number of cameras at Parx's outdoor parking lot has been increased from 16 to 29.

* Three roaming vehicles patrol the lot 24 hours a day, every 20 minutes.

* Such violators are barred from Parx property and stripped of their gambling player cards.

While other measures, including placing a guard at the entrance of Parx, have been considered, Bonner said that was not viable because the adjacent Parx East racetrack - which Parx also owns - allows children and has a playground with swings.

"We are doing everything we can to address the issue," Bonner told the board. "We take this matter very seriously."

The board said Parx's appearance before the board Thursday was strictly for informational purposes. It imposed no fines or penalties on the casino.

Board spokesman Doug Harbach said that if appropriate measures are undertaken at Parx to combat the child abandonment problem, it could become a model for all the other casinos in the state.

"Parental responsibility is paramount," he said. "The action taken by the board is to ramp up the things in place to prevent this from occurring again."

Anti-casino activists said Parx, the most profitable among the state's gambling halls, was a breeding ground for addictive behavior.

"Child neglect is a classic symptom of gambling addiction," said Philadelphia attorney Paul Boni, a board member of the national Stop Predatory Gambling. "The state should flatly prohibit casinos from catering to problem gamblers, even though this would mean less profit and less tax revenues."