Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Communication still lags in casino security, panel says

The digital revolution is giving casinos a new technological edge for protecting their customers from harm and their bottom line from cheaters.

But while digital camera equipment and biometric software and hardware systems are improving the chances that an undesirable person in a casino can be quickly identified, casinos haven't been keeping up with technology that gives them the ability to move and store that data.

That was the conclusion of a panel on the future of security systems at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

The four-day event concluded Thursday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The G2E show attracted more than 25,000 people to the city to see new products and hear speakers discuss a multitude of issues related to the gaming industry.

Panelists concluded that high-definition closed-circuit television systems are better than ever and the digital format enables security officials to produce high-resolution pictures and zoom in for even greater detail to produces images that are useful in keeping undesirables away from games and tracking down thieves.

But for maximum effectiveness, panelists said, casinos should be able to transport images quickly to neighboring properties and store volumes of images that are easily retrieved. That's expensive.

"Over 95 percent (of casino surveillance systems) use VHS technology," said Neil Heller, a business manager for the Panasonic Digital Communications & Security Co. "High-resolution cameras are developing faster than high-resolution transport."

Heller said until properties expand their bandwidth capabilities, casino security systems won't be used to maximum effectiveness.

"Most coaxial cable systems simply don't provide the necessary transport mechanism," he said.

But another company that exhibited at G2E has moved forward with a portable, wireless unit that not only stores digital images of undesirables, but entire data bases of customers, both welcome and unwelcome players.

Charles Guenther, vice president of training and business development for Absecon, N.J.-based Biometrica, stressed the value of developing data bases to keep watch on table game cheaters.

Biometrica has interfaced face recognition systems that tie in to searchable electronic data bases. The company's Surveillance Information Network not only tracks known cheaters, but it also monitors advantage players and teams, problem gamblers and self-excluded players, high-rollers and VIPs.

"We track the good, the bad and the ugly," Guenther said.

He demonstrated a portable, wireless document proofing and identification system that not only interfaces with a data base, but also allows data to be cross checked against criminal and civil records. Guenther said the ideal situation is to have the system tied into a communications network so that neighboring casinos could be alerted to the presence of a suspected cheater.

"We can search for a specific player, all white male blackjack cheaters, for example," Guenther said. "The data base will list photos, what they've looked like on previous trips into the casino, known associates and team associates, alias listings and even photos of devices they use when they cheat."

Guenther said the portable unit, which is the size of a notebook, is being beta tested in a casino that he would not name and that the units run from between $5,000 to $12,000, depending on the volume of devices acquired.

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