PL MINUTES 09151987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 The Commissioner added that he had also learned the establishments 2 had to hire the police because there had been a real need for them. 3 He said the Maplewood police had told him that prior to hiring a 4 police officer, there had been numerous problems in the parking lot 5 which they attributed to the young crowd going into/coming out of 6 the Amusement Arcade establishment in that mall. He said the 7 police reported getting called at least twice a week prior to their 8 off duty officer working in the establishment involving numerous 9 problems with juveniles consuming in public; there were fights , in 10 the parking lot; and consuming on the lot, which the police 11 attributed to arcade customers, most of whom appeared to be 12 transient type kids. Commissioner Werenicz also stated that the 13 establishment was drawing from all over and the police were having 14 all kinds of problems. 15 Mr. Heilicher said they had a police officer on duty at Maplewood 16 from the first day they opened their establishment and a further 17 check would show there were many of the same incidents long before 18 the arcade opened. These are the type of problems all big malls 19 experience, he contended. Commissioner Werenicz told him the 20 type of traffic his business would increase to the mall would 21 generate more of these types of problems. 22 Mr. Heilicher told Commissioner Werenicz the vacant store next to 23 the bar had been the only space the Apache management had offered 24 them for their arcade. Commissioner Werenicz told him he, for •25 one, was dead set against that location especially with the 26 extended hours beyond the mall' s normal closing. He .also perceived 27 having three pool tables would most likely attract the adult 28 drinking crowd from the bar next door who could be expected to 29 start to hang around the arcade to play pool which the bar doesn't 30 have and to gamble over the pool games, all next to the juveniles 31 who would be playing the video games. The Commissioner said he 32 thought this couldn' t help but lead to all kinds of problems. 33 Mr. Heilicher told him they have pool tables in Maplewood, Har Mar 34 and Brooklyn Park and don' t experience any of the problems the 35 Commissioner was anticipating. He said his people watch the 36 players carefully to see there is no gambling, which is not 37 permitted in the arcades. He told the Commissioner he might have 38 gotten some of his information from an officer in Maplewood who 39 doesn' t like children and had always given his establishment "a 40 bad rap. " When he suggested the Commissioner talk to the police 41 officers who work in his establishments rather than someone on the 42 desk, Commissioner Werenicz indicated his conversations had been 43 with several of the chiefs, investigators, and patrol sergeants, in 44 the eight different departments where the arcades are located. 45 Problems, With Crowds Attracted and Not With Arcade Company' s 46 Management • 13