Ask The Expert

This month's expert tackles how casinos use surveillance and access control systems

  • By Glenn Heywood
  • Nov 01, 2006

THE lights are bright and the noise, at times, is deafening. Money changes hands at breakneck speed, and the place is full of people, even at 2 a.m. on a weekday. That's life in a casino.

Whether in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, N.J., on an Indian reservation or riverboat across the country, a casino is very different from other businesses. And those differences present challenges from a security perspective.

From the outset, casinos split the security function in two. Surveillance officers are charged with monitoring gaming tables, slot machines and money-counting rooms. Security personnel keep tabs on hallways, restaurants, parking lots and, quite likely, an adjacent hotel.

Both functions count on video cameras, switchers and DVRs -- many of them -- to keep track of events in real time and to provide a way to investigate events after they occur. Major casinos have thousands of cameras installed, monitored and recorded.

The cameras are the eyes that allow carefully-trained surveillance personnel to keep track of millions of dollars in play at any one time. Each gaming table has a camera fixated permanently on it. Other cameras are aimed at the slot machines while others provide video from entries and other common areas.

ISSUE: How have the needs of the casino industry helped to improve security technology?

SOLUTION: The casino industry's need for high-quality video has been a major force in driving the development and implementation of new technology. The requirement that the surveillance department be able to read the denomination of dollar bills on gaming tables helped push real-time video to 30 fps, providing a higher level of video data for casinos and, ultimately, all security installations.

The large numbers of cameras in a casino also benefit the security side, particularly in the area of liability. After losing heavily at the gaming tables or slots, some patrons have staged slip-and-fall incidents, hoping to gain a settlement from casino management. But by being able to review video of the incident, security officers can show the wet area on the floor resulted from the patron's own, intentionally spilled drink.

Cameras, trained on the parking lots and main entry, also can be used to disprove charges that the casino valets damaged a patron's car while parking it.

ISSUE: How does access control function for casinos?

SOLUTION: Access control also plays a major role in casino surveillance/security. Thousands of people and millions of dollars move through major casinos during a typical day. Card readers placed at entries to operational areas, such as command centers, electrical rooms and data centers, add to security. Employees are provided with identification cards that grant them access to only those areas pre-specified by their employer.

Biometric readers, such as fingerprint recognition systems, are often added at doors to critical operations, such as money-counting rooms, to provide an extra layer of security. Employees needing access to these areas carry smart cards with a digital imprint of their fingerprint embedded in the card.

Casinos also have helped to pioneer work in the area of facial recognition software. Operators are always on the lookout for people -- such as known slip-and-fall practitioners and card counters -- who often operate in teams to give themselves an advantage over the house while playing blackjack.

The software looks at every face entering the casino and compares it to a database of photos of potential problem patrons. That database grows every day, as most casinos share information with one another.

ISSUE: What's the biggest security challenge casinos face?

SOLUTION: A major challenge facing a casino operator is keeping the surveillance/security systems running at all times. When a camera monitoring a gaming table breaks down, that table is out of business until a repair is made. And it is not unusual for gaming tables to be moved from one location to another to meet the needs of the casino's patrons. This requires rapid system changes to minimize table downtime -- which equals lost revenue.

Many casinos work to minimize these problems by having the systems integrator station a full-time staff member at the facility. Also, a variety of critical equipment (cameras, switchers, monitors and readers) is often stored on site to minimize the time required to get replacement parts.

Casinos require equipment, system design and service unlike any other facility. It is wise to work with a systems integrator with experience meeting those special needs.

This month's question from a reader asks:

ISSUE: I am a corporate security officer charged with overseeing security in 17 company offices located in 12 states across the country. We would like to upgrade our locks, but I wonder if in doing so, will we encounter any problems with local codes? Are there national or industry standards that will cover us or will we have to deal with different codes and permits in each city?

SOLUTION: There are a myriad of interpretations in many of the building and fire codes relating to electric locking devices and their interactions with access control equipment. Most state building codes start with a baseline of either the International Building Code or the BOCA National Building Code. From there, state officials either amend or rewrite and republish subsections, or the entire code, based on the particular states' requirements.

Areas of special note are instances where these devices are to be installed in elevator lobbies and stairwells. Coupled with individual state codes, the NFPA Life Safety Code also plays an integral role in installing electronic locking devices.

We frequently work with customers located in different states. As a result, we rely heavily on our SecurityNet partners and their knowledge of the state and local codes to ensure all life safety issues have been addressed. If you are issuing an RFP, be sure to include verbiage stating "installations shall comply with all applicable state and local electrical, building and life safety codes." This way, there is accountability on the part of the individual integrator performing the work.

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