Missouri Gaming Division sees downward trend for arrests at Missouri casinos
Mitchell Kaminski
BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)
An armed robbery at a Mid-Missouri casino Wednesday is drawing renewed attention to security measures at the state’s gaming facilities.
Authorities say two men, one armed with a rifle and the other with a handgun, robbed the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville around 2 p.m. and fled with an unknown amount of money. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the suspects initially escaped in a Ford Taurus that was later found abandoned in Howard County before switching vehicles and remaining at large.
While the robbery involved guns and a multi-agency response, state data shows such incidents are relatively uncommon at Missouri casinos.
According to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, the Isle of Capri recorded just seven arrests in 2025, all for misdemeanors, and no felony arrests. The casino also had 11 criminal investigations that year, tying it with the Century Casino in Caruthersville for the fewest arrests statewide. River City Casino in St. Louis and the Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights were tied for the most arrests at 130 a piece.
Oversight and enforcement at Missouri casinos fall largely to the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Gaming Division, which maintains a constant presence at licensed facilities and investigates criminal activity.
The division has an authorized strength of 125 members, though staffing stood at 92 officers and two civilians at the end of 2025; and is divided into administrative, investigative and enforcement units that handle everything from licensing background checks to on-site criminal cases.
In fiscal year 2025, the division’s Casino Enforcement Unit conducted 1,195 criminal investigations and made 1,497 arrests, 405 of which were for felonies. That total marks a decline from 1,622 arrests in 2024, 426 of which were felony arrests according to MSHP’s annual reports.
Arrests across the state’s eight casinos were also down in 2025. In 2025 the Gaming Division made 656 arrests at casinos, down from 1,003 in 2024 and 1,303 in 2023. Of the 656 people arrested in 2025, 320 were arrested for a felony.
Casino operators are responsible for day-to-day security, but employees must be licensed through the Missouri Gaming Commission. The licensing process includes background checks, with MSHP’s Gaming Division assisting in investigations of applicants and potential violations.
Under Missouri law, security personnel working in and around casinos must meet strict licensing requirements, including fingerprinting and criminal history checks. However, those holding a gaming commission occupational license for casino security are exempt from some local licensing rules.
The Gaming Division also oversees thousands of licensees, more than 9,000 active occupational license holders and conducts hundreds of investigations annually, including cases involving gaming offenses, white-collar crime and regulatory compliance.
Despite that oversight, specific security details, including the number of guards at individual casinos, are not publicly disclosed.
State records show the Isle of Capri employs 313 workers and operates a 28,000-square foot gaming floor with 650 electronic gaming devices and 15 table games.
The FBI tracks robbery data nationwide but does not break it down by location type, meaning statistics on casino-specific robberies are not available.