According to an Associated Press report, police have arrested a convenience store manager on charges of theft following reports of missing lottery tickets.
This arrest comes in the wake of a decision by the Arkansas Lottery Commission to seek police powers from the Arkansas Legislature. No doubt lottery officials are going to use this arrest as further proof that they need these powers. However, an examination of the facts proves just the opposite.
The Lottery Commission maintains that it is difficult to coordinate with police in multiple jurisdictions to enforce lottery laws. However, the lottery’s head of security seems to have had no difficulty reporting to police and aiding their investigation in this case.
Considering the lottery’s history of sweeping improprieties under the rug, just think how easy it would have been for the “lottery police” to have handled this situation differently in order to avoid the bad publicity that comes from a retailer allegedly stealing lottery tickets. Clearly the Arkansas Lottery is fully capable of working with local law enforcement.
This just further reinforces what we’ve said all along: The Arkansas Lottery has more important things to worry about than seeking police powers.
