Another Excellent Piece of Vice Law Enforcement
vicesquad.blogspot.com
Anyone who has been paying attention these past few years knows that the US is in the middle of a poker boom. (Vice Squad is of mixed minds about the whole phenomenon.) Bars and restaurants in many cities and states have begun hosting poker nights -- for instance, in the Philly area. These games have to be careful about how they charge for entrance and award prizes, lest they run afoul of anti-gambling laws; the precise boundaries of legality might be hard to discern. So what should a law enforcer do when he or she learns that a local restaurant is openly hosting poker nights? One possibility would be to chat with the owner, learn precisely what is taking place, and warn the owner to alter any features of the game that might violate the law. But where's the fun in that? Isn't it better to send in lots of officers with guns drawn and laser sights lighting up the heads of the 24 putative poker players you arrest?
The police chief of Palmer Lake, Colorado defended the choice of the guns-drawn approach, citing tradition. But sometimes drawn guns go off. Would it still be such a good idea if one of the alleged gamblers had been shot, or perhaps died of a heart attack?
Small-town poker bust criticized as overblown
gazette.com
By JANE REUTER THE GAZETTE
PALMER LAKE - Several Palmer Lake residents say Tuesday night’s gambling bust at Guadala Jarra restaurant was poorly handled and unnecessary.
Restaurant owner Jeff Hulsmann faces felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly hosting gambling activity in a licensed liquor establishment and on suspicion of professional gambling, has hired an attorney. He maintains his innocence.
Town board member Trish Flake, who was served a misdemeanor summons for suspicion of professional gambling, said none of the 24 people arrested during the police raid thought they were engaged in illegal activity. They were among 81 members of a poker club playing at the restaurant that night.
“It was broad daylight right by the front door,” she said. “I think what hasn’t been reported is the aggressiveness of it. They came in with guns drawn, lasers trained on people’s heads. They swarmed in screaming, ‘Put your hands over your face and don’t move.’ I don’t think I’ve ever been that frightened in my life.”
Palmer Lake Police Chief Dale Smith defended the tactics: “It’s standard habit and practice for these kinds of situations.”
Most of those officers were from the Colorado Springs Metro Vice, Narcotics and Intelligence Unit, not the Palmer Lake Police Department. Nevertheless, Hulsmann, Flake and other residents are placing blame for the incident on Smith.
Smith, a 30-year Palmer Lake police officer, said an officer reported to him in late January she’d seen apparent gambling in the restaurant. Smith asked her to prepare a report, which he turned over to state liquor enforcement officials.
Board member Chuck Cornell said the situation didn’t have to go that far.
“Why in the world didn’t our police chief go down there months ago and say, ‘Jeff, this doesn’t look like the right thing here. Why don’t you knock it off?’ ” he said. “We’re a small town. Everybody knows everybody.”
Smith said he’s often warned people they were breaking the law instead of arresting them. But this was a different matter.
“Normally, we don’t give warnings for felonies,” he said, adding he abandoned the small-town approach because the case was complex.
“We were uncertain whether it was legal or not,” he said. “That’s why we referred it to state liquor enforcement.”
Hulsmann, who also owns O’Malley’s Pub in Palmer Lake, has been operating businesses there for 19 years.
Hulsmann, 48, is chairman of the town’s fireworks committee, helps organize the annual fishing derby and heads the Awake the Lake volunteer committee dedicated to refilling Palmer Lake.
“We had a professional relationship,” Smith said. “He’s a hard-working business owner. I’ve dealt with him like any other citizen.”
Hulsmann isn’t so sure.
Until recently, poker games involving money were also regularly played at The Bowling Alley, another Palmer Lake establishment. Hulsmann doesn’t see a difference between the two.
Bowling Alley bartender Pat Duffy said managers there first checked with state officials to ensure they were following the rules.
Smith said The Bowling Alley, unlike Guadala Jarra’s, wasn’t advertising the games and that the same half-dozen people played each time. It was not an organized activity, he said.
The Bowling Alley plans to hold games again, Duffy said, offering not cash but prizes to game winners.
Still, Hulsmann questions every aspect of the bust, including a press release that states officials seized more than $3,000 in cash.
About $2,400 of that, he said, was money returned to him Tuesday by a former employee arrested for stealing from Hulsmann. Smith confirmed one of his officers saw the woman give the money to Hulsmann.
It was more than likely among the seized cash, the chief acknowledged.
Hulsmann said the players each put $10 or $15 into a pot that was to be divided among the eventual winners of the tournament.
“If I knew it was illegal, would I be doing it in a front room with a window and a hallway where even casual patrons could see it?” he asked rhetorically. “There are no secrets here.”
Although poker players played for money, cash was handled by officers from the Elephant Rock Texas Hold ’Em Poker Club, said club founder Stuart Currier. Poker money never stayed in the restaurant overnight, and Hulsmann didn’t charge entry fees, Currier and Hulsmann said. |
