Casino security directors across the country are turning to technology but are primarily focused on training to protect their customers seven months after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history left 58 dead and hundreds more injured on the Las Vegas Strip.
Many said there’s greater expectations for them to do more. But, it remains difficult to stop such incidents from occurring. Also, security budgets have not seen any spike since the Oct. 1st shooting on an outdoor country music concert from a room at the nearby Mandalay Bay.
More than 150 casino security directors descended upon Park MGM this week at the first Active Threat & Crisis Management Symposium by the NNE Group to hear from colleagues in the industry and other security experts during several panel discussions.
“A lot of security departments are taking a look at what they have in place, especially on the tribal side because they aren’t as well prepared,” said Justin O’Connor, president of the NNE Group. “That’s why we have 150 security directors from all over the country listening to the experts here. Security directors are learning that we have to take new procedures and steps going forward not just because of what happened at Mandalay Bay but other incidents that continue to happen. We’re probably further behind than the Europeans who have dealt with this longer.”
The conference follows a recent announcement by MGM Resorts International to implement a private SWAT team to intercept any terrorists or active shooters before police arrive. That was not addressed at the conference nor did any casinos say they were following suit with MGM on that front.
Instead, most of their focus was on spotting threats to prevent attacks from occurring. Las Vegas mass shooter Stephen Paddock brought several bags to his room over the course of several days that turned out to have a stash of weapons.
“When these things happen, which are absolutely a shame, it spotlights the need for change,” said Ken Toler, director of security at Soboba Casino in California.
Benjamin Blaylock, senior manager of global intelligence and support for Marriott International, said security people tend to be conservative and don’t like to change their methods, but he quoted his boss who often said, “never waste a crisis.” The Mandalay Bay shooting didn’t change Marriott because it isn’t new to them, he added.
Some 54 people were killed at the Islamabad Marriott in Pakistan in 2008 when a dump trump filled with explosives detonated in front of the hotel.
“This shouldn’t be new for anyone,” Blaylock said. “An armed shooter threat of attack did not increase after Mandalay Bay. It’s the same as it always was.”
Marriott’s properties facing the highest threat are abroad and require metal detectors, x-ray and equipment to detect explosives, Blaylock said.
“We can spend a bunch of money on technology, but the best thing we can do to prevent an attack is empowering our staff, especially non-security staff to recognize threats,” Blaylock said. “We run a pretty intensive ‘see something, say something’ program that requires training. A few months ago, housekeepers saw wires that was an improvised explosive device being built. That would not have happened if we didn’t train our housekeepers not just to clean but that if they see something that they think is a weapon or unusual that they should tell security. In the absence of getting the budget we always need, there’s so many low-cost things we can do to improve that.”
Mohammad Rafaqat, director of security for Grand Sierra Resorts & Casino in Reno, asked security executives at the conference how many have policies of “see something, say something” beyond their security staff. He said all hotel casino staff need to work together and multiple their security.
“All hands should be going up,” Rafaqat said. “Security is such a small component of the safety of a property, venue or community. The more aware our team members are and trained, I can tell you success stories of how many calls we get from our housekeeping staff because who has more intimate knowledge about a room than the housekeeping staff. They know when something is out of order. We have gotten calls that there’s a rifle case in the room or someone has a gun. I will go and send my staff and check those out all day long rather than ignore one and that be the one.”
Security directors said everyone needs to work as a team because there’s a lot of turnover with security staff because jobs don’t pay that much, and quality training to spot threats and that can help deescalate confrontations and prevent violence is expensive.
Lt. Ron Belcher, of the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington, said casino security staff need training as to what to spot.
“A lot of these people that get hired on as security have never done anything like this before in their life,” he said.
Joe Gustafson, director of security at Twin Arrows Casino in Arizona, said he’s fortunate to have a general manager that loves training. At other companies where, he’s worked security had trouble getting funds, let alone training.
“It a non-revenue generating department in a revenue generating business,” Gustafson said.
Randy Lawrence, security director at Casino Pauma in California, said a predecessor had $2,500 in a training budget and it was for the director to go to G2E and the National Indian Gaming Association convention. Lawrence said he now does training every two months, including dealing with active shooters, evacuation and other events.
“I don’t think anyone’s budgets are increasing because of Mandalay Bay,” Lawrence said. “I think everybody has a higher expectation of us to provide more safety without a higher budget. That’s probably different here in Vegas with the big hotel chains.”
Las Vegas, however, could be doing better, according to Jason Goldberg, director of global incident management solutions for Verint Systems. Goldberg, who lives in Washington, D.C., said he has worked on major events that are no different than the volume of people casinos have at their concert venues.
Las Vegas gets less than $3 million a year in federal funding to deal with terrorism, a number that has decreased over the past decade. Nevada’s congressional delegation has been pushing for increases from the Department of Homeland Security.
“That blew my mind,” Goldberg said. He also questioned if security departments were partnering with your local law enforcement agencies.
“Are you utilizing the resources that you have?” Goldberg asked.
For casinos outside of Las Vegas, the key for security directors to deal with threats like the Oct. 1 shooting is to change the mindset that it’s never going to happen at their properties. That applies to executives, security staff and other employees.
“We need to train people to be more diligent in looking for things,” Lawrence said. “The chances are that it’s not going to happen, but we can’t become complacent. You have got to do your due diligence to make sure everyone is safe.”
Rafaqat said security directors in the Reno area hold monthly meetings with law enforcement. Other security executives said they do the same and some competitors have joint training to save money and assess threats.
“We need to talk and strategize on how we’re doing to survive the worst-case scenarios happening on our properties because the first five to 10 minutes we are on our own until law enforcement gets there to assist,” Rafaqat said. “We have to do it collectively right all the time, and the bad guys only have to get it done once.”
For Douglass Ladd, director of security at Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Oregon, his property’s watershed moment wasn’t the Mandalay Bay shooting but one in October 2015 at nearby Umpqua Community College. A shooter went on campus and killed 10 people. Within a year, Ladd said his facility was card locked, installed an armed security officer, and paramedics are now on staff. They contract with the sheriff’s office to have a deputy on the property, he said.
“It’s a shame it took that to get there because all three are things we should have done in the first place, but it comes down to that it cost a lot of money,” Ladd said. “That was especially true when they came into retrofit the property with card locks, but they decided to do it, and they were right to do it. I’m fortunate my COO is a retired state trooper like me.”
