Casino security now a top priority

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001 | 10:51 a.m.

The challenge of keeping Las Vegas resorts safe in the post-Sept. 11 era no longer rests just with hotel security officers.

Front-line employees from valet attendants and front-desk personnel to dealers and cocktail waitresses are being asked to be on the lookout for anything suspicious at their properties.

"We're teaching people on the casino floor how to use their instincts," said Douglas Florence, business development manager of ADT Tyco Security Services, Las Vegas, who moderated a panel last week in Las Vegas at the 15th annual World Gaming Congress and Expo on casino security and safety.

Panelists said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and the subsequent anthrax scares across the country are reason enough to dust off any existing security plan. However, the panelists -- most of them security chiefs at resort properties -- acknowledged that no specific threats have been made against Las Vegas.

"It's more dangerous to swim off the East Coast, where they've had those shark attacks, than to be in a Las Vegas casino right now," said Keith Michaels, director of surveillance at the Tropicana hotel-casino, when asked if there have been any credible threats made.

Panelist Tim Donovan, president of the Las Vegas Security Chiefs Association, said law enforcement agencies are required by law to report if a threat has been made against a specific property. So far, nothing has been reported.

Nevertheless, security officers are coaching employees about situations to watch for: trucks parked too close to buildings, briefcases or packages left behind by their owners and people who "tailgate" behind employees into secure areas of the hotel.

In the first days after anthrax was discovered in envelopes mailed to lawmakers and media outlets, some hotels started funnelling all mail and packages to a central location for screening before going to the addressee, Donovan said.

Some hotels also are requiring representatives of delivery services to produce photo identification to verify who they are. Suspicious behavior observed by surveillance cameras is getting closer scrutiny by supervisors and unattended cars are being checked more rigorously by personnel who patrol parking garages.

Showrooms are being inspected before and after performances to be sure nothing dangerous has been left behind.

But panelists warned that the danger of being wary is that some employees could overreact.

"A heightened state of alert does not mean you should panic," Donovan said.

Michaels said employees at one casino carefully watched a man who appeared to be of Arab descent carry a briefcase to a blackjack table while he played. The man interacted with other players and moved the briefcase from a chair to the floor when a new player came to the table.

But after several minutes and a few anxious moments, the man quietly picked up the briefcase and went on his way, leading managers to remind employees "that not every person of Arabic descent is a terrorist."

Another casino employee who found a white substance wrapped in a roll of toilet paper at a bathroom stall found that the mysterious material was just paper lint.

Florence said in the near future, advanced technology will help produce faster, more accurate assessments of potential danger.

Some casinos already have begun using facial recognition technology -- a form of biometric identification -- to determine if dangerous people are in a casino.

Florence said the key to using biometric identifiers is to have a reliable data base from which to compare characteristics. Some companies already are hooking the identification system into their own loyal customer data bases to avoid making embarrassing mistakes. Biometric identifiers include iris-scan, fingerprint and voice-recognition technology.

Florence also said some companies are looking into acquiring computer software that would help them quickly identify the presence of dangerous substances.

The Chemical Biological Response Aide program -- COBRA -- identifies potential harmful substances present after the symptoms of a stricken victim are typed into the data base.