Berks District Attorney Blames Increase in Crime on Skill Games

Berks District Attorney John Adams has joined the skill games fray, calling for their “urgent” regulation in an opinion piece published on The Reading Eagle, while blaming an increase in crime in the area on the “so-called skill games that have popped up in pizza shops, taverns, convenience stores and gas stations”. 

His words place him squarely in the camp of PA online casinos, which have been lobbying for regulation and taxation of the popular machines for a long while. 

Skill Games Have ‘Societal Cost’

The entire opinion piece can be deemed a damnation of skill games, with Adams going as far as to reference a New York March 2023 court case that detailed how a theft ring illicitly pocketed some $550,000 just by targeting skill games machines in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Adams praised the recent Philadelphia skill games ban, while quoting from a letter sent by the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) to Governor Josh Shapiro describing how “skill games have put a strain on law enforcement in many communities”.

Meantime, Gov Shapiro is forging ahead with his budget proposal for a 42% skill game taxation across the Keystone State, even as a different bill with a much lower rate of 16% is currently in front of the Gaming Oversight Committee.

Adams’ words are likely to sing a discordant note with Pace-O-Matic, the leading distributor of skill game machines, which has recently been focusing on the positive impact of skill games on small businesses.