As Twin River Gets Bigger, Should Recent Rash of Drug Arrests Raise Concerns?

Thursday, January 25, 2018

GoLocalProv News Team

Twin River is handling billions annually

Twin River is becoming an ever more increasing source of revenue to Rhode Island’s economy.

Simultaneously, the gaming facility is Lincoln has been hit with a series of drug-related arrests in a two month period — some serious. Five different employees have been arrested.

Now, Twin River is slated become an even more important part of Rhode Island’s budget revenue and taking on an even greater role.

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First, the Twin River facility in Tiverton is racing towards completion.

Second, Governor Gina Raimondo’s budget includes a new source of sports gambling and counting on an estimated $23 million, according to her administration and they anticipate that Twin River will manage the new form of gambling. The new sports wager is dependent on the Supreme Court to rule in favor of a suit filed by former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie against the NCAA. That decision is expected late in the spring.

The State of Rhode Island's estimated take of the first year's wager is just a tiny fraction -- the Rhode Island Department of Revenue tells GoLocal that the gross amount wagered will be $815 million -- all of it managed by Twin River.

Third, as GoLocal reported about the decline of lottery revenues in October of 2017, overall lottery revenue is falling, but the bright spot was table games which increased over $14 million — from $125.8 to $140 million. But, Rhode Island beware, as Springfield and Everett, Massachusetts are in full development. Both of those facilities are going to further impact Rhode Island even when Twin River’s facility in Tiverton comes online.

The interpretation of the diminishing revenues is being interpreted differently. “The VLT decline would be attributed to increased competition from nearby Plainridge and also increased promotional marketing from competitors, including Plainridge and Foxwoods,” said Patti Doyle, spokeswoman for Twin River in October.

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Problems at the Lincoln facility

Drug Policies at Twin River

A series of drug-related arrests at Twin River Casino over past two months raises questions about employee screening and hiring practices. Twin River does not do drug testing when hiring or random drug testing.

The company said they are aware of the problem and are actively addressing it.

“The union contracts we've reviewed do not prohibit us from drug testing, so, to say succinctly, we have the ability to drug test in accordance with Rhode Island law, and we have a specific drug use policy in place that does allow us to test for drugs, narcotics and alcohol,” said Doyle last week in an email to GoLocalProv.

Doyle said, “We have a workforce of 2000 employees, the vast majority of whom are skilled in their profession, have a terrific, guest-oriented attitude and take tremendous pride in the work they do. The incredibly small percentage of those involved in drug-related incidences were dealt with swiftly and are not representative of the exceptional Twin River workforce.”

Twin River said the issue of drugs cannot infer that there is any impact on the gaming.

“The integrity of the games cannot be questioned. There are simply too many layers of supervision, surveillance and on-site regulators in place. It does not matter if drug use is suspected or not. Those protocols are always in place,” said Doyle.

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Recent drug arrests at Twin River - is it a serious issue?

Drug Busts

The most recent Twin River employee to have been arrested by the Rhode Island State Police for narcotics-related charges was James McKeown, 29, of Warren, on charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession and delivery of a controlled substance -- Schedule I Marijuana.

He was arraigned earlier this month in Third Division District Court before Judge Mary McCaffery and released on $20,000 surety bail.

McKeown serves as the Table Games Supervisor at Twin River and was arrested on January 9 as a result of an investigation by members of the Gaming Enforcement Unit.

This arrest comes just a couple of weeks after four other Twin River employees were also arrested on drug charges.

On December 1, 2017, table games dealer Connor Evans was arrested on one count of possession and delivery of a controlled substance.

A few days later on December 6, 2017, State Police arrested Elizabeth Sankey and Megan Menard, both food and beverage servers, for possession of a controlled substance.

Previously, food and beverage server Kyle Dorez was arrested on November 4, 2017, on two counts of possession of a controlled substance and two counts of possession and delivery of a controlled substance.

Twin River is Customer Focused

As a new facility is slated to come online in the next few months and Twin River is targeted to take on the state's newest game - sports betting - the company says they remain customer focused.

"In general, no one is more disappointed with these kinds of incidences than the Twin River ownership group and management team. We work hard to create an environment that allows for a positive guest experience - whether it be on the casino floor, in our restaurants or at our concerts and special events," added Doyle.

As Twin River Gets Bigger, Should Recent Rash of Drug Arrests Raise Concerns?

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As Twin River Gets Bigger, Should Recent Rash of Drug Arrests Raise Concerns?

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