Surveillance Policies
Note: this article is intended for a template for use by surveillance managers in forming the basic policies for their Surveillance Room.
Contact Jim Goding for consultation on forming surveillance policies and procedures: consultant@casinosurveillancenews.com
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 a major deterrent against such violations. Though it is very valuable to catch a thief or cheater, stopping one before an act is committed is even more valuable. Though it is difficult to document and report, prevention of theft and internal or external cheating is one of the most valuable functions that Surveillance departments perform. 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 various means, including through the years of our evolution, video cassette recorders, individual DVRs and digital recording systems. Observation is also occasionally done by floor observation, which serves mostly to locate problems and situations and to direct camera observation for recording. Reporting is done in writing or in electronic form in specific types of reports:<<<Several pages of material have been deleted here. We have to make a living too, as well as safeguard the copyrights.>>>
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Summary The purpose and function of Surveillance is to guard the assets and liabilities of the casino operation via observation, documentation and reporting of 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.
