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From left, Ed Davis, former Boston police commissioner; Bill Young, former Clark County sheriff and retired head of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department; Geoff Freeman, AGA president and CEO; Tim Murphy, former deputy director of the FBI; and James Dinkins, former executive associate director at ICE Homeland Security Investigations, pose at American Gaming Association headquarters in Washington to announce the formation of a new board to help combat illegal gambling. Davis, Boston's police commissioner from 2006-2013, has been tapped to serve on the panel.
(AMERICAN GAMING ASSOCIATION)
WASHINGTON — Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis has been tapped to serve on a newly formed Illegal Gambling Advisory Board as part of the American Gaming Association's "Stop Illegal Gambling – Play it Safe" initiative.
The five-member panel includes Davis, the Hub's police commissioner from 2006-2013, and four other former ranking law enforcement officials. The board held its first meeting Tuesday, June 16, at AGA headquarters in Washington, DC.
"There is a stark difference between legitimate industry, such as the operators the American Gaming Association represents, who are good community partners, and these bad actors who aren't regulated and have no respect for the law," Davis said in a statement.
"We're fortunate that five of the most well-respected law enforcement officials from across the country are lending their expertise to our efforts to combat illegal gambling," Geoff Freeman, the AGA's president and CEO, said in a statement.
"As the gaming industry seeks to grow, it's imperative that we crack down on the illegal operations that siphon critical revenues and tarnish the legal, highly regulated products and experiences we provide," Freeman said.
Other board members include:
- Tim Murphy (chair), a former deputy director of the FBI;
- James Dinkins, a former executive associate director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations;
- J.B. Van Hollen, a former Wisconsin state attorney general, U.S. attorney, and district attorney;
- and Bill Young, a former Clark County, Nevada, sheriff, retired head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and the current senior vice president of compliance and security at Station Casinos.
The "Stop Illegal Gambling – Play it Safe" initiative was launched in April to help distinguish the highly regulated, $240 billion legal gaming industry – which supports 1.7 million jobs and generates about $38 billion in taxes across 40 states – from the criminal networks that rely on illegal gambling to fund violent crimes and drug and human trafficking.
The goal of the initiative is to focus on four key areas of illegal gambling: illegal sports betting; black market machines; Internet sweepstakes cafes; and illegal online betting.