Washington State Gambling Special Agents

The Washington State Gambling Commission is the regulatory agency which oversees all aspects of the gambling industry in the State of Washington. The Commission is responsible for the licensing and enforcement of all laws, statutes, and regulations in effect in the State of Washington which govern gambling.

The commission itself is described as a "non-appropriated" agency. This means that tax-payer money is not used to fund the agency, rather the agency is funded through licensing and regulatory fees from license applicants and holders as well as tribal governments. If a tax-payer does not agree with gambling on moral grounds, they can rest assured that none of their money is used to support the agency unless the tax payer chooses to enter the gambling industry on his or her own free will.

In order to enforce the gambling laws of the State of Washington, the Commission employees 165 full time members, of which, approximately 85 members are sworn law enforcement officers. These sworn members are referred to as Gambling Special Agents in the State of Washington. As sworn law enforcement officers, they are granted the same rights and duties of other police officers in the State of Washington including, but not limited to, the authority and power to arrest, detain, and / or cite violators of Washington law (though they usually just stick to enforcing gambling specific laws). Gambling Special Agents carry badges, guns, and drive State of Washington issued vehicles to and from gambling and gambling related establishments to do their jobs.

Because of the rather small size of the agency (when compared to other law enforcement agencies operating in the State of Washington), work hours for Gambling Special Agents is rather flexible, with many Agents offered the opportunity to work from home and commute via State issued vehicles to and from their home offices and work related locations. The current work schedule for Gambling Special Agents is 160 hours within a 28-day period. That means that the Gambling Special Agent, unless ordered by leadership, can work any time, day or night (most casinos are open all night anyway) so long as at the end of 28 days, 160 hours of actual work has been logged.

The duties of Gambling Special Agents included the enforcement and regulation of gambling rules and procedures, conducting financial related investigations, investigating complaints against casinos, and investigating (sometimes undercover) possible criminal activity involving or relating to gambling.

All Gambling Special Agents must successfully complete the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission Basic Law Enforcement Academy as a condition of hire.

Sources:

Gambling Special Agents. Washington State Gambling Commission.