The state police has disbanded its casino unit, transferring the last 12 members and leaving the department with no daily presence in the gaming facilities for the first time since Foxwoods Resort Casino opened in 1992.
The transfers took effect last Friday leaving the policing of the state's two casinos – Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun – to the tribe's police departments. They will now be responsible for patrolling and making arrests in the casinos and the parking lots.
The Department Emergency Services and Public Protection and the Chief State's Attorney's office signed an agreement last year allowing the tribes to take control of policing once all of the officers in became certified by the state's Police Officer Standards and Training Council.
The Mashantucket Pequot Police Department has 22 officers and the Mohegan Sun department has 26, many of whom are retired state or local police officers.
The tribes have foot the bill for the state police presence, paying more than $3 million last year. But with casino revenues shrinking and the state police looking to deploy dwindling personnel elsewhere the agreement was reached last May.
"There are now two full-fledged police departments who both have total arrest powers and also have to abide by any regulations and rules that other departments do," said Michael Lawlor, the governor's undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning. "They can't have different rules for tribal members and for non-tribal members." .
The state police will be called for serious crimes, authorities said.
"The reality is there is relatively very little crime there other than petty stuff such as shoplifting and car break-ins," Lawlor said.
State police spokesman Paul Vance said some of the officers transferred on Friday will go into the agency's Bureau of Criminal Investigations which includes an organized crime unit and drug task force. Vance said cases from the casino would likely be investigated by one of those groups.
When the agreement was reached last May, state police officials said "state troopers will maintain a presence at the casino, including the state regulated gaming areas, and will be called in to investigate felonies and other major crimes, as the need arises."
But sources said the transfer eliminated the casino unit entirely and there will not be a daily state police presence in either casino.
Now that they are certified, the tribes' officers can test blood alcohol levels, fingerprint suspects and keep arrestees overnight in holding cells. Since they are now recognized as police officers under state law, an assault on a tribal officer is felony charge.
The departments must also adhere to all state regulations, including Freedom of Information laws and federal and state reporting requirements for racial profiling data and crime statistics.
Chief State's Attorney Kevin Kane likened the two departments to university departments such as Yale which has jurisdiction on the campus, but also gets assistance from New Haven police.
"This frees up the state police to use their resources to focus on more sophisticated criminal activities that maybe have been underinvestigated in the past at the casinos and leaves the public order crimes to the tribal police who can handle that part," Kane said.
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