Security News > 2011 > January > After Bellagio heist, how slack security can cost Las Vegas casinos

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/11/how-slack-security-can-cost-casinos/ By Liz Benston Las Vegas Sun Jan. 11, 2011 In the 2001 movie “Ocean’s Eleven,” a gang of criminal masterminds uses con games, physical might and explosives in an elaborate plan to steal millions from the Bellagio vault. The real-life version of the crime that played out on the casino’s security cameras last month was as daring as anything dreamed up by Hollywood. But it would have made for a poor movie, as it was neither sexy nor sophisticated. And it presented little physical risk to the thief inside the Bellagio — one of many major casinos that tell unarmed security staff to stand down during armed robberies to avoid violence in a crowd. To casino security experts, it also shows how casinos are vulnerable to theft at a time when other gambling crimes are rising in the poor economy. Layoffs have affected many departments of the big casinos, including security and surveillance. Less security, experts say, may have motivated the Dec. 14 incident when an armed thief grabbed about $1.5 million in chips off a craps game in the predawn hours and got away on a motorcycle parked just outside. Moreover, Nevada law doesn’t require a guard by each entrance as they are in many other states or countries with casinos that refuse entrance to children and, in some cases, check IDs. [...]

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/11/how-slack-security-can-cost-casinos/