Opinion ID: 4186977
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The techs

Text: The techs work with both the surveillance and security departments and have wide-ranging duties. They are charged with designing, installing and maintaining the surveillance department’s gaming-floor camera system in a manner that complies with Nevada gaming regulations. Maintenance does not mean merely fixing broken equipment. The gaming-floor setup is often in flux. On the frequent occasions when slot machines and table games are moved, the techs must adjust the camera coverage so that it still captures all of the legally required information, including the identity of dealers and players, card ranks and suits, bets, payouts and the like. By law, the coverage must be adequate to prevent cheating. Thus, the techs are in frequent and direct contact with both the surveillance monitor room and Nevada’s Gaming Control Board, proposing coverage, taking pictures, making submissions on deadline and obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals.2 2 As an example, Bellagio techs in 2015 designed and installed ad hoc surveillance coverage for a Super Bowl party involving an auxiliary sports book and gaming pit. One of the techs was in direct communication with the Gaming Control Board, forwarded a proposed layout and obtained the necessary regulatory approval. That was consistent with standard practice: about once a month on average the techs must configure and get regulatory approval for coverage of a special gaming event. See, e.g., Mirage Tr. 66-68 (auxiliary betting stations for fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao); Bellagio Tr. 75-83 ($500,000 baccarat tournament). 7 The techs also oversee the server room and are solely responsible for the elaborate computer system that manages “[b]asically every aspect of . . . digital surveillance,” including not only the surveillance department’s cameras but the security department’s as well. Bellagio Tr. 58. No one except the techs and the surveillance director work on that computer system or on the cameras and related equipment maintained throughout the casino. And because the techs and the surveillance director are “the keepers of the system,” id. at 101, only they can unilaterally turn video feeds on and off; add and delete cameras and users; restrict a user’s access to particular views and footage; stop cameras from recording; and delete footage from the server. The surveillance operators and security officers have no such authority. In practical terms, then, a tech can significantly affect what an operator or officer sees on video at any given moment. The surveillance operators and security officers rely on and communicate daily with the techs. The operators and officers report any problem with coverage or equipment so that the techs can correct it. The techs train the operators and officers on how to use the computers, change camera views and archive video files. The techs also help the operators and officers extract footage from the server for evidentiary use. And if tampering with a camera is suspected, the techs, not the operators or officers, are the ones who investigate.3 3 Surveillance operators and security officers are on-site 24 hours a day, whereas the techs’ on-site hours run between about 3:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., when their work on the gaming floor is least likely to interfere with business. But because the surveillance system is “vital” to operations, Bellagio Tr. 122, because malfunctions can “jeopardize” the casinos’ gaming licenses, id. at 8 Moreover, the techs’ duties reach well beyond everyday camera coverage. The techs maintain each casino’s electronic access system. The access system consists of code-activated magnetic locks that control access to “sensitive area[s]” like the server room, the monitor rooms, the art gallery, executive offices, count rooms and the main casino cage — the last of which is subject to especially restrictive controls because it is “the hub of all gaming funds” and is much “like [a] bank” in the amount of money it houses. Mirage Tr. 58; Bellagio Tr. 89, 93. Only the techs and the surveillance director have electronic control over the access system. Accordingly, and although they act at the direction of human resources and other supervisory personnel, only the techs and the surveillance director can program the codes that limit each employee’s access to specific locations within the casino. The techs themselves have full access to all areas because they must tend to cameras and equipment “almost everywhere.” Bellagio Tr. 145. As with the access system, the techs install and maintain computerized alarm systems for jewelry, art displays, count rooms and cages. No other employees do such work. The techs have the ability to arm and disarm the alarms. And if a miscreant defeats an alarm, the techs investigate how he did so. Finally, and perhaps most importantly for our purpose, techs often participate in targeted investigations of fellow employees suspected of wrongdoing. In the typical investigation—known as an “integrity check,” a “special operation[]” or simply a “special[],” Bellagio Tr. 105, 177, 183—the tech either installs a purpose-built covert camera somewhere in the target employee’s work area or “lock[s]” an 38, and because no one else can perform the techs’ work, at least one tech remains on call at all times. 9 existing camera onto the area without the employee’s knowledge. 4 Mirage Tr. 110-11. Special operations are conducted, on average, about once or twice per month. Because the tech has to devise coverage that will capture the suspected misconduct, he is usually given “[s]pecifics” like the “nature” of the misconduct and “what kind of employee” is suspected of it. Id. at 105-06; see id. at 164, 190, 195 (tech typically knows why he is setting up coverage in specific area); but see id. at 106 (tech typically is not given target employee’s name). Although a tech’s role in a special operation is limited to ensuring proper coverage and retrieving footage afterward, his participation is essential: no other employees devise and install secret cameras. Also, the surveillance and security personnel conducting the investigation count on the tech to coordinate with them, especially to maintain secrecy. Just as “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” see History of Las Vegas, LAS VEGAS CONVENTION AND VISITORS AUTHORITY, www.lvcva.com/stats-and-facts/history-of-las-vegas/ (noting tagline coined in 2003), the casinos have a “policy” that “whatever happens in surveillance doesn’t leave,” Bellagio Tr. 139-40. During a special operation, a tech is not to disclose its existence to personnel who do not need to know about it. 4 Again as an example, The Mirage’s techs in 2015 hid a camera inside a clock radio within a staged guest room to catch a housekeeper stealing items planted in the room. That was consistent with standard practice. See, e.g., Mirage Tr. 92-94 (techs installed covert camera in air duct to investigate graveyard-shift supervisor suspected of sleeping on job); id. at 196-98 (techs installed covert camera in ceiling to investigate security employee suspected of stealing lost-and-found items); Bellagio Tr. 179-81 (techs installed covert camera in ceiling to investigate poker dealer suspected of stealing from coworkers). 10 Indeed, to ensure that the operation is not compromised, the tech must sometimes use his control over the computer system to “cut off” video coverage to some employees and tell them a “story” that the system is malfunctioning. Id. at 175-76. The foregoing duties are sensitive and important enough that the techs are considered “key employees” under Nevada’s gaming regulations. Mirage Tr. 50-51. A key employee is one who has “the power to exercise a significant influence over decisions concerning any part of the operation of a gaming licensee . . . .” NEV. GAMING REG. 3.110(1). Casinos subject key employees to special restrictions and background checks. And so it is with the techs. Because of the techs’ comprehensive knowledge and access, the casinos must put “quite a bit of trust . . . in [their] integrity.” Bellagio Tr. 138. The techs are therefore subject to more stringent background checks than are most other employees, including security officers. Having detailed what the techs do, we complete the picture by describing what they do not do. Unlike a security officer, a tech does not carry a weapon or handcuffs; does not patrol the resort for misconduct; does not restrain an unruly guest; and does not physically confront a cheater or a thief. Unlike an officer or surveillance operator, a tech does not watch live feeds or stored footage for wrongdoing and does not document it.5 And when a tech participates in a special operation, he does not confront or interview the targeted employee. 5 Like all other employees, however, a tech is expected to report suspicious activity when he encounters it. 11