As efforts continue to improve safety and cleanliness in Atlantic City, to attract more visitors, 15 murders have been committed in the resort city so far this year. That surpasses the total for all of 2011.

Flickr User Dougtone
Flickr User Dougtone
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The all-time record for homicides in the city is 18.

Roger Gros, the Publisher of Global Gaming Business Magazine, says, "It's typical that just bad things get reported about Atlantic City. Atlantic City is a magnet for bad news in the mainstream media. People who are looking bad for something in Atlantic City can always find it. This has nothing to do with the casino industry, it has nothing to do with tourists coming to town."

He says, "here's a lot of progress being made, the Tourism District now is cleaning up - there are buildings coming down that were eyesores in the city - and also places where homeless could hole up… I don't need to point you to other cities in New Jersey, where the crime rate is 10 times what it is in Atlantic City, yet Atlantic City is the one that's publicized most often."

"The image of Atlantic City in terms of visitors to the city is changing - this kind of reporting doesn't help. But when people come to Atlantic City they see that the reporting is wrong. They see that it's safe, they see that there's places they can go to enjoy themselves and there's a lot of other things to do in Atlantic City than just to gamble…Atlantic City has been making a lot of progress."

He also points out, "Governor Christie has vowed he will not allow gambling to expand in any part of the state for at least 5 years, which is 4 years from now, so I don't see people in Atlantic City worried about it …The Governor has kept his word about Atlantic City on everything he has done so far, so there's no reason to believe that he would go back on his word because of political pressure from another part of the state."

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