Atlantic City casinos are not being staffed with State Police properly due to staff shortages across the force, according to the State Police union president.
Chris Burgos, president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association, said the number of troopers assigned to Atlantic City has been falling as resigning and retiring troopers not being replaced fast enough.
“All I’m asking for is adequate staffing,” Burgos told the Press of Atlantic City. “I can say what we need are more classes and more troopers. We have a severe staffing shortage division-wide and we’re not filling the vacancies for trooper positions.
State Police officials told the paper that a new class of recruits is scheduled to graduate in February, though could not say how many of those new troopers would be sent to Atlantic City.
Burgos said the shortages are still affecting the casinos even though four Atlantic City casinos have closed this year.
The New Jersey State Police is reimbursed for the staffing of its Casino Gaming Bureau by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement. The bureau enforces all state statutes in the casinos and averages 800 arrests a year.
“This is something law enforcement all over the country is dealing with,” Burgos told the paper. “Obviously with the closures I believe the numbers of visitors has increased in the casinos that are still in operation. Does that mean the presence of troopers should decrease? I don’t think so.”
