Professional Documents
Culture Documents
James R. Fitzgerald
Bonus Chapter
(It was early January of 1984. The political transition within the Bensalem PD had just taken
place. It was not a good transition either, certainly not for me and many of my colleagues. It
forced me to contemplate my professional future, so it was time to take a little trip to explore
some options.)
Chapter 39a
As it so happens, I was scheduled off for the next two days, Thursday and Friday. While
at home for dinner during my Wednesday evening shift, I discussed with Eileen all that was
going on at the PD, what just-demoted Lt. Jack Robinson advised me about the place that God
had apparently forsaken, etc., and we mutually agreed on one thing. I should start looking for
another job.
These were just three questions I had to address and somehow come up with viable and
workable answers.
In terms of when, Eileen and I also mutually agreed that theres no time better than the
present. The where and the how of it would be decided at the same time.
The next morning, with a dozen copies of my previously prepared resume in hand, I put
on my best suit, shirt, and tie, polished my shoes, awaited the Philadelphia area rush hour traffic
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to die down, jumped in my car, and I made a bee-line to Atlantic City, New Jersey. I was
strolling on the Boardwalk by 11:00 that day with a very purposeful agenda in mind.
The recently revitalized AC would be the initial stop on my find-a-new-job quest. With
its first casino opening in 1978 and now a half-dozen additional gambling halls and hotels lining
the Boardwalk since then, it seemed like a logical place to start. Other casinos were under
construction and/or in their late planning stages so there was no doubt of the jobs a-plenty to be
found there now and in the future, to include in my particular area of expertise.
I wasnt then nor am I now a gambler, other than the occasional friendly poker games
with my buddies, but I certainly wasnt opposed to working in a gambling establishment. These
places clearly needed security too, and I was aware of the fact that these casinos were hiring
numerous retired and former law enforcement officers to protect their assets, their customers,
investigate fraud, keep organized crime out, etc. So, why not begin there and test the waters, so
to speak? Of course, with my experience and education, I was hoping to get in on the
investigative or management side of the house, and thats what I would tell anyone who would
Not too long after arriving in Atlantic City that morning, perhaps right before I walked in
the door of the first casino, I realized that I undertook this first part of my new job-quest in a bit
of a nave and perhaps premature fashion. That is, I had absolutely no contacts at any casino,
there was no one I could reference there, nor was I even a known customer of any of the
establishments.
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I simply made my way to the security offices of the various casinos and asked to talk to
their respective security directors. At my first few stops I was told the boss was not available.
When that happened, I simply advised the security department representative that I was looking
for employment and then gave him or her a copy of my resume to give the boss. The person
would thank me and told me that someone would hopefully get back to me. I thanked them, left,
After my first three stops, I finally walked into the fourth casino security department. I
forget which one after all these years, whether it was Ballys, Caesars, Resorts, or Tropicana, but
after once again mentioning to the front office rep that I was a current police officer looking for
possible employment, this one actually managed to put me in touch with the director. He
happened to be in his office then and after being advised of my sudden and unannounced
The tall, 50-something year-old man, with a full head of gray hair, walked out into the
small inconspicuous lobby of the department, shook my hand, introduced himself. I then
followed him into his interior, windowless office where we started our conversation.
When initially offered, the director took my resume right away, glanced over it, and was
impressed that I was a detective sergeant, had a college degree, and was even attending graduate
school. Well, I WAS attending grad school, but he didnt have to know it was past tense at this
Anyway, after some general small-talk regarding the inner-workings of a casino, the
director matter-of-factly asked me why I was looking to leave law enforcement after only seven-
plus years on the job. I wanted to be careful here and not simply turn my response into a bashing
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of my current place of employment, the new political regime, and the like. That would be
unprofessional in this particular context and time. Plus, this man didnt want to hear all that has
been happening at the BPD over the last few years and I wasnt about to lay it all on him at this
very early stage of interaction. In response, I simply told him in so many words that I was
hoping to enhance my professional opportunities in the private sector and I believed my skills
manager. He seemed to comprehend all that I had just related to him, or he was at least nodding
As I continued to talk with the security director he eventually shared with me that he was
a retired trooper from the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). He left the state police as a detective
lieutenant just two years earlier. He added that many of the casino security employees were, like
him, retired from the NJSP. Also, there were other former police officers from smaller, local
jurisdictions, as well as retired FBI and other federal agents spread out among the various casino
As I was listening intently to the man and taking notes, he then asked me a question
which caught me completely off-guard. He wanted to know if I had yet attained the official New
Jersey State Casino Employment Certification (or something like that). I looked up from my
The security director then told me that every potential worker at any of the casinos in
Atlantic City had to have this particular certificate to even apply for employment. It was
mandated in 1976 when the state officials first approved gambling in The Garden State. I had
never heard of this certificate program and asked him more about it. He advised it entailed an
extensive background check and it was designed to keep out mobsters and other criminal-types
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who would, quite naturally, attempt to make their way inside the very lucrative casino industry,
ply their various illegal activities, and otherwise compromise the integrity of the workplace
environment.
Even recently retired or still on-duty law enforcement officers had to attain this
certification if they desired employment in the NJ casino industry. There were no exceptions.
And as a potential employee in a casino security department, there were even additional
processes which had to be undertaken. These included more extensive background checks, in
some cases a polygraph exam, along with other requirements that employees in non-security
positions would not have to undergo. The director made it clear at the end of his explanation that
he couldnt even take an application without me first having this certificate in hand.
After this valuable information was proffered by the casino security director, all brand
new to me, I cleared my throat, sat up in my chair, closed my notebook and candidly advised him
that I had not been previously aware of this certification requirement. I told him I wouldnt have
wasted his time today if I had known about it in advance. He said it was not a problem and that I
wasnt the first person to call him or even come into his office and have this conversation. I then
thanked him for taking the time to meet with me and explain to me all that he just did. As I was
about to depart his office I asked him how one goes about starting the process of attaining this
certificate. He gave me the phone number of the New Jersey State Gambling Commission in
Trenton, NJ, and told me that I should simply call them and ask for an application. I said I
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I expressed my appreciation to the security director again for the twenty minutes or so of
his time that he so generously bequeathed to me that day. He provided a wealth of information
which, quite frankly, I should have researched on my own before going there. But he seemed to
be fine with me stopping by and told me nonetheless that he was impressed with me and my
follow through and attain the aforementioned certificate, to call him and we could possibly take
matters to the next stage. I took that to mean that perhaps he would consider hiring me. I dont
think I was wrong in that thinking either. I shook his hand, thanked him yet one more time, and
Well, despite my jumping the gun here, I at least got some facetime with a boss at one of
the casinos security departments and learned a great deal from him. It wasnt a totally wasted
trip.
I decided then to drive home, call the Gambling Commission in Trenton, and request a
form/application and go from there. All of this may take me longer than I had planned, but deep
Before I left AC, I stopped on the boardwalk and purchased a hot dog, chips, and a soda
at one of the food establishments. It was a bit cold to be eating on a bench outdoors, but with the
sun shining and the sight of the Atlantic Ocean directly in front of me, not to mention the always
soothing sounds of breaking waves and squawking seagulls, and with at least the beginnings of
my job-hunting quest now in play, it actually had me in a pretty good mood. If nothing else, it
was a very welcome break from that God forsaken place where I was now presently employed.
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All in all, I recall thinking, not a bad day.
When I arrived home I immediately called the phone number in Trenton. I talked to a
woman there and requested her to send me the aforementioned certificate application. We
discussed a few different form numbers and we finally decided on the one that would best serve
me. She said shed put it in the mail the next morning. I hung up the phone, got changed, and
spent the hour before dinner rolling around on the floor playing with my two young sons. It was
a welcome respite from having driven four hours that day, cold-knocking on several casino
*****
About the same day I was made aware of the grievance being filed at work regarding my
1982 promotion to sergeant, I received a thick envelope from the NJ Gambling Commission in
the mail at my house. Upon opening it and reading all the instructions, I learned for the first time
that applying for and (hopefully) attaining this certificate would not be cheap. It would cost me
$350 just to initiate the process. That wasnt a small amount of money in 1984, at least not to
me. But after talking it over with Eileen we decided it would be worth the expenditure, even if it
offered no guarantees to me of either getting the certificate or later even getting a casino job.
So, shortly after the next payday I filled out the multipage form, wrote the check, and
sent it off to Trenton. In about four months I received a letter and a notarized form back in the
mail. I had been fully certified to work in the security department of any one of the Atlantic City
casinos. It was valid for the next three years. I suppose it was well worth the expenditure.
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Or was it?
As it turned out, I never went back to Atlantic City to apply for a job. It just wasnt in the
cards for me. (Yes, pun intended.) Id be exploring other professional opportunities in the
meantime, some in the public sector but at least one more in the private sector. No state-
sanctioned certificate would be needed for this upcoming non-government job opportunity. But
There will be more to follow regarding this scenario as I learned loose lips sink ships
late teens. (See Bonus Chapter 49d for this almost employment story.)