Casino Security
For several decades, casinos in the United States have been at the forefront of private business’ battle against criminal activities. An attractive and tempting target, casinos not only attract criminals with the lure of easy pickings, but the ever-present large volumes of currency act to break down the common sense barriers of those individuals not otherwise so inclined towards crime.
Even though criminals and even potential criminals are well aware of the typically extensive security measures that are in place in casinos and gaming establishments, there exists two mentalities that are able to justify taking the risks involved with committing a crime.
- First there are people who believe that they are smarter, and can outwit any array of security measures. And on occasion, they are able to do just that; but not for very long.
- Second is the ‘law of averages’ thought process, which reasons that the facility is just too big / there are too many people / there is just so much going on, that “they” can’t watch everything all of the time. And sometimes, this group gets lucky too. Just not as often as they’d like.
With their rationale firmly in place, criminals migrate to the casino environment with the intent of damaging the casino establishment, their employees or their patrons. With the proliferation of casinos outside of their typical geographic boundaries, law enforcement agencies, contract security organizations and in-house casino staffs have found themselves stretched to provide quality manpower and sufficient presence for deterrence.
What is frequently overlooked by casino management and security organizations is the pervasiveness and increasing frequency of crimes thought to be nearly ‘obsolete’ or exceedingly rare, both from internal threats and external threats. Once enjoying a steady decline over several years, astute industry observers have noted that many crimes are back on the rise.
Casinos have long been sensitive to the quiet attacks by grifters. Although it is acknowledged that the gaming industry will always be targeted by people trying to bend the laws of chance, security and management staffs generally agree that no scam will remain undetected for very long. Under the ever watchful eyes of surveillance systems, criminals have always had difficulty plying their trade. With the advent of new Digital Video surveillance tools such as FocusMicro’s state-of-the-art systems, the grifting community is finding fewer places still to practice their skills.
