Instead of Tackling Gambling Addiction: Casino Grants Fund Surveillance Cameras
A few Massachusetts communities have spent close to $500,000 in casino mitigation funding on surveillance cameras that are currently used to track vehicle license plates. Their decision raised concerns regarding privacy, transparency, and whether the money is being used for its intended purpose. The Official Justification The funding comes from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Community Mitigation Fund , which was set up to assist towns and cities with addressing the negative effects of having casinos in their proximity. The grants are financed through casino tax revenue and are meant to support projects addressing issues such as traffic congestion, public safety, and gambling addiction . However, an investigation by WBUR found that a total of nine Massachusetts communities used part of their grants over the past three fiscal years to purchase automated license plate readers, most of them manufactured by Flock Safety. Local police departments justified the purchases by arguing that the cameras would help monitor traffic connected to nearby casinos. Some were installed along highways and roads leading to casino properties. However, the technology captures every vehicle passing the cameras, not just casino visitors. The collected information is then stored in databases that law enforcement agencies in other communities, and
