Sgt. Paul Jaroscak, spokesman for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, says police agencies are busy handling many major crimes. So, he said, bingo halls — or any illegal gambling — tend to attract attention only if they meet three criteria: they become conspicuous, they are obviously commercial and they generate complaints.

Most bingo halls do little or no advertising, so they are not too conspicuous. Only one current bingo hall is listed in the Yellow Pages under "Bingo Games." Some are listed on Internet sites that advertise bingo halls. Some appear to rely just on word of mouth.

Many have names that do not include the word "bingo" on signs above their doors.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Capt. Dave Burdett says he ordered some officers to visit and look into the Westside Social Club after it had put a bingo ad on a fence by the sheriff's Kearns substation, which is not far from the club. He said he had not noticed the operation until he saw that ad.

"They found, at least at that time, that people were basically paying for dinner, like spaghetti, and playing bingo. They were maybe skirting the edges of the law," Burdett said. But no charges were filed at the time, and Burdett said the sheriff's office has never received any complaints about the operation.

Jurisdictions with bingo halls say they rarely have received any complaints, and the few that have come tend to be from rival owners of other bingo halls.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Brenneman said, for example, that the last time his agency received a complaint about the Southgate Social Club was two years ago. "We reviewed the issues then and didn't find enough evidence to present a case to the district attorney for a criminal complaint."

He adds that the "gambling law has a lot of gray area." Also investigations can require a lot of time — and, even when successful, yield only a misdemeanor charge.

Still, Yocom, for example, says he would like to prosecute what he feels are clear violations of gambling law. "But we have to depend on the sheriff to bring charges to us," he said.

Yocom acknowledges frustration that the sheriff's office has not done more to bring charges. For example, when told that the Westside Social Club is directly across the street from Kearns Junior High, Yocom said sarcastically, "If they tried to sell beer there (close to a school), they would be shut down. But I guess gambling is OK."

Robinson, the West Valley prosecutor who has charged owners of two bingo halls, says, "I wish other jurisdictions were more aggressive in pursuing them."

POKER

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