Opinion ID: 4186977
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Surveillance and security

Text: Each of the two casinos has a surveillance department and a security department. As required by Nevada law—which provides that a licensed casino must have a “surveillance system . . . to assist the licensee and the state in safeguarding the licensee’s assets [and] in deterring, detecting and prosecuting criminal acts,” NEV. GAMING REG. 5.160(2)—each casino’s surveillance department uses a network of high-tech cameras to oversee slot machines, gaming tables, count rooms and cashier cages. The cameras transmit live footage to a monitor room, where two to four surveillance operators per shift watch the footage in real time for suspicious activity, and to a server room, where the footage is stored on a “really fancy” “s[o]uped-up” computer system for future use. Mirage Tr. 54. Stored footage is critical because hundreds of cameras (about 1,100 at Bellagio and 700 at The Mirage) canvass the gaming floor; the few on-duty operators cannot see everything as it happens. Ultimately, the surveillance department’s job is to protect the casino’s property and guests “according to policy and procedure,” especially by ensuring that dealers and players do not cheat the games. Mirage Tr. 32. The security department has the same job but with an additional focus on non-gaming areas such as the jewelers and art gallery, retail and recreational areas, hotel towers, parking garages and employee-only locations. In other words, security officers patrol the entire resort for potential threats to the “security of the guests, the employees and the property itself.” Id. at 172. A second camera system, not subject to gaming regulations, covers the non-gaming areas. The security officers monitor non-gaming video feeds in their own monitor room. The officers on patrol respond to reports from that room and from the surveillance department’s monitor room. In the event of cheating or a 6 safety threat, the officers take appropriate action such as restraining a patron or escorting him off the property.