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Surveillance Department

Policies and Procedures

By Jim Goding

and

Gary Powell

All Surveillance employees are responsible for knowing and applying in their daily routine all of the policies and procedures included in these guidelines.

Exercise good care in the handling of sensitive material, including both written reports and speaking to other employees, whatever their level in the various chains of command. Errors in judgment could prove embarrassing and in fact could cause irreparable harm to the company and/or the reputation of this room, yourself, and other employees.

 Basics

The purpose of Surveillance is to safeguard the assets and liabilities of the organization.

Surveillance provides two functions. The first is that we detect, document and report violations of law, policy and procedure. The second is that by reporting these violations and making it known that someone is watching and recording, we provide the major deterrent against such violations.

Though it is very valuable to catch a thief, stopping one before an act is committed is even more valuable. An effective Surveillance team, by its reputation alone, prevents much more theft, cheating  and other undesirable activity than could ever be caught.

This is done by the observation and reporting of situations. Observation is done through closed circuit television, which is recorded by video cassette recorders or other means such as digital hard drive or DVD. Observation is also done by floor observation, which serves mostly to locate problems and situations and to direct camera observation for recording. Reporting is done in writing in specific types of reports:  

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Further Information

Other than trained and alert personnel and the Surveillance system, a number of other tools can be listed which are either vital to the operation or simply make our work easier.

Vital Tools:

Communication and cooperation with other departments

Published procedures for all departments

Utilization of Security personnel in detention of suspects

Open communication line, 24/7, with the Director

Rapport between Supervisors and the Security managers

Communication with other casinos via SIN

Data files on known offenders and advantage players

Available information on casino gaming operations, such as table hold, slot hold, etc.

Labor Savers:

Staff ID badges large enough to be read via CCTV close-ups

Files with names and photos of all casino employees

Schedules provided by the Pit and other areas to Surveillance

Report forms and information on computer

Summary

The purpose and function of Surveillance is to guard the assets and liabilities of the corporation via observation and reporting of observed information to the correct casino executives and staff. This is accomplished by teamwork within Surveillance and by communication and cooperation with other areas of the casino.

We provide, by our presence, the largest deterrent to crime.

  Copyright © 1998, 2002 by Jim Goding. All rights reserved. Duplication in any form, electronic or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author is forbidden, is a violation of the proprietary rights of the author and is actionable under law. This article may be purchased for a nominal fee by clicking on the following link.

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