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.

A Broad Spectrum of Threats

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.

The Scams

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.

Violent Crime

With the implied increase of terrorist threats and actions in the aftermath of September 11th, casinos and law enforcement agencies have been on a heightened state of alert. Regardless of this emphasis and increased presence, while overall crime has decreased, violent crime has increased in many gaming communities with a renewed trend of armed robberies directed at casinos themselves.

In a string of incidents unprecedented in decades, several Las Vegas establishments have been victims of several holdups during the past three years. If nothing else, this has served as a reminder that in spite of continually improving security measures, no plan or system is foolproof. Although there are several video tapes of the intruders at each crime, the less than stellar images that are typical of VCR tapes makes apprehension a difficult proposition.

Embezzling Plus

In spite of working in a high-tech and pervasive security environment, employees seem to fall prey to their own avarice with surprising regularity. Although employees are frequently briefed on the basics of an establishment’s security and surveillance measures, they somehow seem to forget that no matter where, a camera is always monitoring their actions.

Surveillance systems are clearly a part of the solution, especially when integrated with other security technologies. One such incident in a Colorado casino linked the opening of a slot machine for maintenance to the surveillance system. By monitoring the cameras, the security staff was able to determine that a technician responsible for clearing jammed machines was pocketing some of the change; enough change to significantly enhance the technician’s lifestyle.

Most employee theft is caught after accounting checks and balances of cash drawers and working safes detect a shortage. After a bit of investigative work, suspects are quickly identified. All it usually takes after that is a detailed review of the casino’s surveillance history tapes. Once again however, the technology is not foolproof. “The VCR’s help, but they’re not perfect” admitted one security manager in Atlantic City. “You can’t always see what’s going on. At times it’s just not clear enough.”

Common Fraud

Like most businesses dealing with the public, casinos must deal with the routine of customers attempting to pass bad checks or credit cards. In Indiana, law enforcement officials estimate nearly 98% of all customer based crime that is committed at casinos involves credit card fraud, stolen checks or counterfeit money.

The fatal flaw in this strategy is that most casinos and gaming establishments have strong working relationships with local law enforcement, as well as substantial resources themselves. And unlike the fraud that is committed in other retail establishments, the crimes in casinos hurt state and local government revenues as well. And that motivates investigators.

Says one security professional, "If someone was going to cash a bad check, why would they do it here instead of some mall where municipal police generally don't go to those lengths?".

Another crime frequently perpetrated against casinos is the filing of fraudulent insurance claims. From faked stairwell accidents to prearranged slipping in the hallway, casino operators have probably seen it all. But the threat of litigation from the supposed ‘injuries’ has been minimized by technology. One Las Vegas casino spokesperson noted that their extensive video surveillance coverage had changed the way the casino handles these incidents. Once the quality of the video had been verified, they let the plaintiffs file the claim, then they initiate prosecution for fraud.

An Ounce of Prevention

An interesting twist of the application of security and surveillance systems has been in the arena of customer service. The technology is being used to help arbitrate disputes with patrons and in turn, assure them of the integrity of the games and the establishment. It also serves to demonstrate the diligence of the casino in detecting grifters and proving culpability.

Other customer service enhancements created by the technology involve locating lost items or friends and crowd assessment used to determine when to open other areas or gaming tables.

Embracing Technology

Casinos have a consistent track record for not only quickly adapting new security technologies and strategies, but for frequently developing innovations for internal use as well. The Casino industry has raised video surveillance camera placement to an advanced science, providing managers responsible for monitoring activities an unprecedented degree of control and observation capabilities. At the same time, video history from the surveillance systems is supplying investigators and casino managers with enormous amounts of information that allow them to frequently ascertain actual events.

Installations of surveillance systems costing in excess of $1 million are commonplace even outside of the major destination gaming cities. Casinos can average as little as one camera for every 100 square feet. In what first sounds like overkill, the question begs: ‘Is it worth it?’.

"I am amazed at the lack of crime here. It is not nearly as much as I anticipated…” commented one Michigan state police investigator after reviewing the security systems in the local gaming community.

In Las Vegas, surveillance operating companies have noted that conventional crime is on the decline thanks in part to the pervasiveness of cameras and security systems. From 1998 to 2001, casino crime was down more than 30% and projected to fall in excess of an additional 25% in 2002.

The Technology Race

While the trend of reduced crime is encouraging, no one is fooled into complacence. Casinos are involved in a game of leap-frog, trying to stay ahead of the technology that is equally embraced by criminals. "Device crime is rapidly on the rise," said Woody Pierce, one of the managing partners in the International Casino Surveillance Network in Las Vegas.

Utilized by criminals, the computer and internet revolution has enabled the sophistication of even petty criminals to evolve dramatically over a very short period of time. The only way for casino and gaming operations to combat this more savvy attack on their profits is to continue to adopt even more sophisticated security systems. And they’re not shy about letting the public know about their efforts, either.

"We want to let people know if you're interested in cheating, you'd better not come to an MGM property." says Las Vegas Mirage spokesperson Alan Feldman.

Winning

Several technologies have emerged that are providing casinos with a significant increase in security capabilities. FocusMicro’s Digital Video Servers are providing a wide array of new features that are being embraced by security professionals everywhere. Digital video recording provides image clarity that has been unobtainable from conventional video tapes, plus the ability to perform image post processing such as pan and zoom on areas of interest in a frame.

FocusMicro’s patent pending LogicTrack™ technology allows security personnel to set highly specific motion sensing alarm zones within a camera’s coverage, and then to configure alarms that are dependent upon the date, day and time of the alarm. Alarm notifications are also fully configurable, ranging from text messages transmitted to managers’ pagers, to voice notifications sent to security cell phones and automatic calls to law enforcement agencies.

Integration

There are many benefits of adopting a FocusMicro Digital Video Server solution for casinos. One of the more powerful is the capability to integrate a Digital Video Server with other security systems, transaction systems and safety equipment. Utilizing sophisticated PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras, FocusMicro Digital Video Servers can direct cameras to zoom on a specific event, such as a large payout, accessing a machine or the opening of a cash drawer.

FocusMicro servers can also be directed to automatically place a bookmark on the video history for a specific camera or cameras that will enable reviewers to easily locate an event.

Data Mining

In an environment where a FocusMicro Digital Video Server is integrated with other security and transaction based systems, Data Mining can be utilized for in-depth analysis of the data records. The science of Data Mining uses proprietary FocusMicro technology to analyze video and event history to extract and validate events. Using advanced algorithms, relationships between seemingly unrelated events can be established, patterns can be illuminated and comprehensive reports can be generated.

Data Mining is the ace that security professionals have needed but didn’t know that they were missing. With Data Mining in place, investigators will have state-of-the-art tools for analyzing events, allowing them to solve more crimes and proactively implement solutions before problems can materialize.

The Look of Tomorrow

Digital Video is rapidly changing the way security and surveillance systems operate. The improvements gained by implementing a digitized system is more beneficial and has greater impact than the migration from black & white to color systems.

FocusMicro is the clear leader in this revolution, delivering stable, reliable systems that are matched only in performance by their six-sigma customer service. For an analysis of your establishment’s security and surveillance systems, contact a FocusMicro representative.