Protecting Casino Guests

by Jim Goding

Protection of guests from physical risks, from thieves and scam artists should be a primary concern of not only the security staff but of all casino and hotel employees. Your most important asset is your casino patrons. All the table games, slot machines, restaurants and entertainment facilities are worth nothing without the guests who pay for them. One guest who gets injured or ripped off in your casino will tell his story, and others who hear about it, even third and fourth hand, will avoid a place where they heard someone got hurt. This is loss of future income.

Complacency

People are careless. Any walk through a casino, hotel or shopping mall will reveal women being careless with purses and bags, men draping jackets (with wallets, etc., in the pockets) over the backs of seats, people leaving valuables unattended. These are the targets of distract thieves and pickpockets. Many guests arriving in tourist destination towns are sadly misinformed as to the degree of protection actually available. They assume that there is sufficient police and security presence to discourage thieves, scam artists and others. Unfortunately, this tends to make them careless with their property. They are on vacation, they don't want to worry. But in actual fact it is impossible to stop all the thieves before they act. Security and Surveillance employees also become complacent. This is the major enemy of any security or surveillance director. A briefing sheet could be given to every hotel guest, telling them the simple things they could do to avoid becoming the victims of the various scams. Things like "Never leave your purse or money unattended,"  "Don't carry all your money with you," "Don't leave your expensive jewelry sitting out on the hotel-room dresser," "Lock your car in the parking garage," and other common-sense pointers that people forget about when away from home, on vacation. If properly written, the hotel's concern for its patron's welfare will outweigh any potential alarm it could cause to customers. We have all seen that the greatest majority of victims, to some degree, brought it on themselves by their own carelessness. This can be prevented to some degree.

Targets

Foreign nationals are preferred targets of thieves and scam artists. The thieves know that even if they get caught, a foreign national is unlikely to return to this country to testify in a trial. People who are partying, drinking, gambling or lost are also targets of thieves and scam artists. People who are likely to be careless with their money or belongings, and those who are willing to give out information to strangers are more targets. Hotel check-in areas, bell desks, and valet areas are common target areas. People coming in are tired from traveling and easily distracted. People leaving are in a hurry and often hung over. These areas should be scanned often, especially at busy times, for known or suspected thieves.

Predators and Scavengers

In any crowded area, such as a casino, shopping mall or convention, there are people who are not there for entertainment or the business intended. They walk differently, they are alert and looking at different things.

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Protection of the names and addresses and other personal information of hotel and casino guests should be absolute. This means computer security. No one should be allowed to give away or sell or the names or other data regarding hotel guests. Even the access to this information should be restricted to personnel authorized to do so as a specific part of their job functions. Just imagine what an organized group could do if they could access information regarding high-end players. First, they would know when potential targets would be coming to the hotel, so could organize thefts from the targets' homes. Second, if they could find out in advance what rooms the guests would be staying in, thefts on hotel premises could be arranged and planned in advance. If criminals can predict (from casino records) when and where a person would be playing, they know when the room or suite might be unattended, and they could even plan in advance how to arrange a theft of cash from the person in the casino. Certain types of gatherings, such as jewelers' conventions, Indian shows, rodeos, and so on, attract people with lots to steal. Security should be beefed up at these times, and camera surveillance should be increased both in the convention area and other areas that offer targets of opportunity, such as hotel check-in, valet, shopping areas and others. A very important thing to remember is that if your guests are not protected―if they can be scammed, injured or stolen from―your casino is open to civil suits if the victims can show your neglect. Even if it can be shown that the casino was not at fault, every time a patron goes home with a tale of woe—he got his wallet lifted, he got hit by a cab, his merchandise, personal belongings or vehicle were stolen—you lose a minimum of ten future customers: that patron's relatives and friends and all the people they will talk to, who will never come to your casino.

Copyright 2003, 2005, 2011 by Jim Goding. All rights reserved.