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By Root 1442 0

’s main north-south artery). The downtown establishments are older, less gaudy & cater to local residents & less affluent tourists who come to gamble, enjoy low-quality entertainment & engage the services of prostitutes. Junket groups (Elks, Kiwanis, Rotary, Shriners, VFW, CYO) are frequent downtown hotel-casino visitors. The downtown establishments are largely owned by “Pioneer” consortiums (e.g., native Nevadans & general non-organized crime groups). Some of the owners have been forced to sell small (5%–8%) interests to organized-crime groups in exchange for continued “Preferential Treatment” (e.g., on-site “protection,” a “service” to insure the absence of labor trouble & untoward on-site incidents). Organized-crime associates frequently serve as casino “Pit Bosses” & thus as enforcers and on-site informants for their organized-crime patrons.

The downtown area is jurisdictionally covered by the Las Vegas Police Department (LVPD). The LVPD’s jurisdiction adjoins that of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department (CCSD). Both agencies work within the other’s jurisdiction by mutual consent. The Sheriff’s Dept patrols the “Strip” area south of the Sahara Hotel. Like the LVPD, it provides investigatory services for its specific jurisdiction, with an operational mandate inside LVPD, or “City” jurisdiction. The LVPD is similarly allowed to conduct investigations inside Sheriff’s Dept, or “County” jurisdiction. It should be noted that both agencies are widely influenced and corrupted by factions of organized crime. This corruption is of the type most identified with “Company Towns” (e.g., casino revenue forms the financial base of Las Vegas & thus influences the political base & law-enforcement policy). Numerous officers within both agencies benefit from organized-crime bestowed “Gratuities” (free hotel stays, free casino gambling chips, the services of prostitutes, “police discounts” at various businesses owned by organized-crime associates) & outright bribery. The LVPD and Sheriff’s Dept enforce organized-crime policies with the implicit consent of the Clark County political hierarchy & by extension the consent of the Nevada State Legislature. (E.g., Negroes are strongly discouraged from entering certain “Strip” hotel-casinos and on-site casino personnel are allowed to see to their expulsion. E.g., crimes against organized-crime-connected casino employees are frequently avenged by LVPD officers, acting on orders from the Casino Operators Council, an organized-crime front group. E.g., LVPD officers and Sheriff’s deputies are often used to track down casino card cheats, “discourage” them & run them out of town.)

The best-known hotel-casinos are situated on the “Strip.” Many of them have been infiltrated by organized crime, with percentage “Points” divvied up among the overlords of organized-crime cartels. (E.g., the Chicago Crime Cartel controls the Stardust Hotel-Casino & boss Sam “Mo,” “Momo,” “Mooney” Giancana has an 8% personal interest. Chicago hoodlum John Rosselli (the Chicago Cartel’s Las Vegas overseer) has a 3% interest & Chicago Mob enforcer Dominic Michael Montalvo aka “Butch Montrose” has a 1% interest.) (See Addendum File #B-2 for complete list of crime-cartel ownerships & percentage-point estimates.)

Smaller percentage points are traded between organized crime factions as part of an ongoing effort to insure that all factions have a stake in the expanding Las Vegas casino economy. The profit base is thus shared & faction-to-faction rivalry is averted. Thus, organized crime presents a unified face in Las Vegas. The man responsible for developing & maintaining this policy is Morris Barney “Moe” Dalitz (b. 1899), a former Cleveland mobster & organized crime’s “Goodwill Ambassador” & Las Vegas “Fix-It Man.” Dalitz owns points in the Desert Inn Hotel Casino and is rumored to have points in several others. Dalitz is known as “Mr. Las Vegas,” because of his numerous philanthropic endeavors & his convincing non-gangster image. Dalitz founded the Casino Operators Council, dictates their enforcement policies & is largely responsible