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Coakley Names Former N.J. Detective To Gambling Panel

Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley introduces Former New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameronas her appointment to the state's gaming commission Tuesday, Feb. 28. (AP)
Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley introduces Former New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameronas her appointment to the state's gaming commission Tuesday, Feb. 28. (AP)

The five-person state commission in charge of awarding Massachusetts casino licenses will include a former New Jersey detective.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Martha Coakley appointed former New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameron to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

The full-time position pays more than $112,000 a year.

Cameron, who grew up in Weymouth, rose to the second-highest post in the New Jersey State Police. There, she spent nine years running police investigations involving casinos in Atlantic City.

Cameron says her experience in law enforcement will be valuable in assessing casino proposals.

"I think I have the skills necessary to contribute to what should be our primary function with the commission, and that's to ensure the integrity of gaming in the commonwealth," she said, "while maintaining accountability, transparency and, of course, the public's confidence."

She added, "I'm not naive and I don't anticipate everything running smoothly, but I think that what's important is having systems in place and a combined effort with all of the agencies that are tasked with enforcing to combat those issues."

In December, Gov. Deval Patrick named Stephen Crosby, a one-time state secretary of Administration and Finance, to chair the commission.

State Treasurer Steven Grossman also has one appointment to the panel and the remaining two appointments will be made jointly by Patrick, Coakley and Grossman.

The deadline for the panel to be fully in place is March 21.

On Monday, before Coakley's appointment, Crosby indicated that pay and the level of scrutiny the commission will face are making the hiring process challenging. Because of that, Crosby said some of the panel's early process deadlines "will simply be impossible for us to make."

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom

This article was originally published on February 28, 2012.

This program aired on February 28, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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