up on the screen i don't think we need to do that but we did include his cv and he uh can briefly
touch on his background um it was exhibit eight i'm sorry exhibit eight in the materials that i
provided um and jerry just briefly explain your background to the board yes sir i'm uh i've been
a member of uh the parks casino team as a director of security since august of 2008 um shortly after
i retired from the philadelphia police department i spent 31 years i retired as a as a police
captain i also retired from the u.s navy as a commander in 2018 32 years of law enforcement
and an aid. Thank you. And are you familiar with the South Philadelphia OTB Race and Sportsbook?
Yes, sir, I am. And, I'm sorry, what procedures does the OTB Race and Sportsbook
employ to ensure that the operation is safe?
We utilize a security team and backed up by a surveillance video team.
And what procedures are employed to ensure that any undesirables are not permitted to
frequent the OTB race and sports book?
We have a procedure whereby if we do have undesirables, there's a process where they're
identified.
I take the individual in question, their paperwork, and I go forward to my superiors and present
that to them, and we opt to permanently evict them.
we can evict them for as little as 30 days or upwards of a permanent eviction.
And are you familiar with the proposal to downsize and relocate the OTB
race and sports book to 1526 Packer Avenue? Yes, sir, I am. And are we correct that this
facility will only be about 2,600 square feet, whereas the present facility is about 36,000
square feet yes sir that's correct and will what impact will the smaller size have on your ability
to provide adequate security it'll have no impact whatsoever okay um i do have to share my screen
briefly mr chairman to explain one other thing while you're doing that mr fritz first let me
thank you on behalf of very one for your years of service both to the city and our country
um have you ever had the occasion to be deployed to work at the 7th packer avenue site
sorry i've been at the 7th packer site uh i haven't been deployed there i i've gone there
to look at the operations and uh i've been in that general area as well as uh i've been uh
also in chickie and pete's uh at 15th and packer uh socially on several occasions
so you're familiar that's why i was getting it you're familiar with both sites okay thank you
Mr. Fretz, I have the floor plan of the entire Chickies and Peets facility up, and I'm circling now the 2,600-square-foot area where the Race and Sportsbook will be.
And right now where I am, is this the only patron entrance to the Race and Sportsbook?
Yes, sir, it is.
and why is it important to only have one entrance from a security perspective
it's easier to control the uh the patrons who frequent the facility
and how will security handle this operation well we would have a security officer present
outside the doors um utilizing a podium we currently here at the casino utilize uh sophisticated
utilizing a podium. We currently here at the casino utilize sophisticated equipment to detect
fraudulent documents. Every person who enters that facility or that sports gaming area would be
required to present valid government-issued ID. If it passed and they were of age, they would be
permitted access to the facility.
And let me just
scroll down.
Is this the exterior of the race and sports book?
Yes, sir, it is.
And where will you have your security personnel?
If you're looking at the screen, I would station my security personnel to my left, looking at the screen.
Yes, in that general area right there, utilize a podium.
There will be a security officer present there with, like I said, the ID scanning equipment,
and would challenge individuals who appear to be 30 years of age or younger.
That's not a mandate from the gaming board.
That's just a request, and we abide by that.
Here at the casino, anyone who appears to be 30 years of age or younger is required to produce a government valid ID.
If they're unable to produce that, they're not permitted entry into the property.
If they are able to produce it and they're 21 years of age or older, they're allowed access to the property.
um in your opinion will the use of this property as proposed cause any impairment to the surrounding
community or neighborhood beyond what would normally be expected from this use
no sorry would not and in your opinion will the operation
um of the otv the relocated otv inside chickies and peats uh cause a greater impact than might
be expected from this operation? No sir I don't believe so. And will there be any likely increased
adverse impact on public health safety or fire risk beyond what would normally be expected from
bringing a race in sportsbook here if this operation comes here? No sir. And in your experience
will this type of operation cause an increased risk of criminal activity beyond that would be
expected from a race and sports book? No, sir. And in your opinion, will there be an increase
of any criminal activity surrounding Tricky's and Pete's if the race and sports book is relocated
here? No, sir. And in your opinion, will the race and sports book attract any new criminal
element to the area? To the best of my knowledge, no, sir. And who do you expect to be the typical
patron at the otv racing sportsbook typical neighborhood uh person who frequents chickies
um to go there as a restaurant it's just an added entity that they'll be able to uh to utilize the
sportsbook i don't see people coming from outside uh the neighborhood i see them going to to the
live casino that they have a bigger sportsbook there i i just see neighborhood folks utilizing
THAT FACILITY.
OH, AND I HAVE ONE LAST THING TO SHARE.
I'M SORRY, I FORGOT.
I HAVE AND I WILL PUT UP IN A MINUTE.
sorry now i'm getting dizzy to read upside down
that's what's the strategy cool yeah
um i have a letter up on the screen could you identify it to the board
Mr. Fritz. Oops, I'm sorry. Yes, sir. It's from the Citizens Crime Commission. Basically thanking
Ron Davis, who's our Director of Diversity and Inclusion here at the casino. We actively
participate in a number of events and law enforcement related as Director Haran spoke
of earlier um and so we actually sponsor um an award to uh an individual police officer
um selected by the the citizens crime commission
selected by the Citizens Crime Commission, as well as a number of other participants
to recognize their valor or their heroism throughout the year, and we actively participate in that.
A number of those individuals are actually colleagues of mine from my days in the Philadelphia Police Department.
And this was sent as a recognition of thanks by the Citizens Crime Commission to Parks?
Yes, sir, it is.
i have no further questions for mr fritz mr chairman mr fritz i have a question uh as it
relates to the security uh how does that how would that work with i assume chicken pizza already has
some in-house security how does that uh how do you guys cooperate what would be the arrangement
uh i'm again i'm assuming that chicken pete already has some security once on site
We, in order to operate in that environment under the gaming board, we would have individuals, they would have to be licensed by the by the gaming board that involves a background investigation, as well as a financial disclosure for them to be awarded a gaming license.
And those individuals would would be assigned there and they would be trained by myself or some of my some of my other managers as to what the rules and regulations were with respect to to the to the sports book and racetrack area.
And there would be, let me ask you another way. How do you guys interact? Is there some sort of a standard cooperation between your security force and the security folks that work traditionally for Chicky and Pete's?
Well, there would be a, you know, I can't speak to that because, you know, obviously that doesn't currently exist, but I can speak to the casino here and with Chickie and Peach, we have an excellent working relationship.
They typically have some managers who act as security present here at the casino. We have a good working relationship with the Ben Salem Township Police and local law enforcement.
And equally, in Philadelphia, I'm sure that we would have, based on, you know, my background with the police, the Philadelphia police, we would have an excellent working relationship with not only the Pennsylvania State Police, but the Philadelphia Police Department, if needed.
Thank you. Any questions from the board for Mr. Fritz?
Okay. Mr. Bonney?
Yes. I have a number.
I just want to remind everyone it is 1 16. We're shutting down and I'll use that. I shouldn't use
that word phraseology, but we'll be ending this hearing at 1 30. Okay. Um, thank you. Uh, you know,
Mr. Fretz, thank you. And, uh, thank you for coming to the RCO meeting. Um, and, uh, just,
Just, you know, before I dive into the nuts and bolts, does Parks Casino give any financial support to the Citizens Crime Commission?
Financial support? I mean, you'd have to talk to Ron Davis about that.
I know that we buy, we pay for the award, the trophy that is given to law enforcement officers.
I don't have that immediate information beyond that.
Okay, how about the police department in Ben Salem to provide any financial support or, you know, gifts, donations, share the, you know, cost and events, things like that.
That's above my opinion.
I don't know why it's relevant, Mr. Chair.
Yeah, I mean, I'll cut it.
I'll get into the heart of the matter.
As far as I know, parks, and I'm not sure if they still do it because I was friendly with the mayor of Ben Salem.
certain portion of the revenue that is generated goes to reduction of real estate taxes for the
residents of Ben Salem I don't know if that still still exists as far as I know it does
right I'm just asking about you know sometimes I'm not saying parks but I specifically but
sometimes you see casinos you know the money they're either making donations or it's from
the local share of the taxes that it goes to buy a firetruck or police equipment. And, you know,
look, a ton of donations are made. I think Mr. Davis spoke to a ton of donations and I'm,
you know, the Red Cross and whatnot. And I'm just asking whether the institutions that were
mentioned today are the recipients. But I understand that it's above Mr. Fretz's pay grade,
and so I'll go more to the heart of the matter. First of all, you spoke, Mr. Fretz, about evicting somebody.
First of all, you spoke, Mr. Fretz, about evicting somebody for 30 days or evicting somebody permanently.
And, you know, where are those? I don't know. I don't understand what you're saying there.
Can you explain where that, you know, what structure you're referring to?
Mattioli asked me, how did we deal with undesirables?
um so when an undesirable is brought to my attention typically a security manager unless
i have intimate knowledge of of the event a security manager would bring that to my attention
i would gather all the information and i would take it to my superiors and we would sit down
and we would decide um if we were going to evict this individual and based on what whatever they
were involved in whether it would be something as minor as 30 days or it could be something
as major as, you know, a permanent eviction.
Well, but again, I'm having trouble understanding the scenario here.
So would you agree with me that in your time at Parks Casino,
there's been, you know, incidents where a gambler has punched a slot machine
and sort of, you know, punched a slot machine.
Do you have experienced that?
we don't have slot machines at this facility i understand
i see guys punch the bar when somebody makes a field goal and cost them the bet i mean it's
people get emotional i'm asking mr frets i think he knows the answer and i'm using this as an
example to understand his eviction process please this is the this is a very important matter okay
Or if someone damages a slot machine and we identify who that individual is, we have our slot technicians determine the extent of the damage and what it would cost to repair it.
We then give the individual an opportunity to pay restitution for the damage that was done.
And quite honestly, if they refuse to pay restitution, then that would be where I would take steps to go up to my superiors and ask them, you know, if they would want them evicted.
Okay, so in an instance like that, would you consider evicting that person from the premises that day?
I would not.
You would not.
Okay, so that would not rise to the level of an addiction.
Would that rise to the level of an arrest?
Would you call the state police over and have that person arrested?
Just to be clear, typically when there's damage done to a machine, we don't recognize that damage maybe for another hour or so unless someone actually witnesses it.
So that would require an investigation.
Well, if let's say you witnessed it, come on now.
Yeah. So if I witnessed somebody that damaged the machine, then I would personally get their information.
And then I would have a slot technician determine what type of damage was done to the machine and come up with some monetary amount.
And then I would ask them to leave for the day for sure until we completed our investigation.
You would. OK, but you wouldn't necessarily refer to them to the state police for arrest.
It really all depends. The state police would make that decision whether or not it would amount to a vandalism, but I don't make that decision.
You don't make that decision. Okay. You mentioned that you have security guards. You would have security guards outside of the glass doors here at a podium.
um and you did mention that those security guards would would have to go through background checks
and get personal licenses from the gaming control board is that correct yes sir what kind of idea
are they in a uniform are they uniformed or are they in a suit and tie well they typically be in
it so we have both suit and tie and uniforms we have line level security officers who are uniform
and we have um sir i'm asking for this facility yeah you you i'm asking for this facility would
they be in uniform or not i i i can't answer that right now i don't i don't know what the superiors
have um okay i would suggest that they would be in a uniform you would suggest that they would
be in uniform so it would be recognizable okay would there be signage that says um you must be
21 or older to get in here absolutely that's a gaming board requirement okay and is and would
that be on the podium or would that be on the door I don't know where it would be posted quite
honestly it would be in a conspicuous location okay now you did mention I was going to seize
on something but I think you clarified yourself that it it's not everybody that walks in gets
It's not everybody that walks in gets carded.
discarded. Am I correct?
Am I correct that it's only people that those security guards believe that may be 30 or younger?
Yes, sir, that's correct.
Okay, so if they think they're 31, they're not going to card that person?
That's correct.
Would you agree with me that there's been numerous occasions where underage gamblers have been identified
at Parks Casino and Ben Salem.
I would disagree.
You don't believe that the Game and Control Board
has ever, well, I'll ask it this way.
Are you aware as to whether the Game and Control Board
has ever fined Parks Casino
or their parent corporation
for allowing or allowing,
I'm not saying consciously allowing,
I'm saying for allowing minors
or underage people
to bet on slot machines etc at parks casino you're not aware of that no i'm aware of it i'm
i'm intimately aware of that because i'm part of that process okay well then i i guess
different wavelengths with the previous question oh i need to ask the question mr fritz the policy
is if the security person personnel believe that the person who's trying wants to enter that that
portion of the facility doesn't appear to be 30 years old or older, then they would ask for ID,
correct? Yes, sir. That's just policy. Is that correct? Yes, sir. So there would be nothing to
prevent the policy from saying that everyone who enters or wants to enter should be carded to see