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Comprehensive casino security and surveillance

Resorts World Casino New York City (RWNYC) is the only legalised gaming casino in New York City. Its location near JFK International Airport meets New York State gaming regulations regarding geographical requirements, in order to protect visitors, patrons and the casino’s assets.

In 2021, Resorts World Casino opened its 400-room Hyatt Regency Hotel, which included several conference spaces and new dining and retail outlets. This expansion reinforced the need for an agile and adaptable security system, which resulted in the installation of Gallagher’s access control solutions in the hotel’s lobby, reception, back of house facilities and employee areas.

With approximately 400 million dollars channelled through its facility each week, the casino’s concerns include security across multiple points of entry, vendor offices, cashier cages, count room areas and high limit rooms.

The casino has an average of 15 000 guests per day, approximately 1000 employees and 6500 slot machines. The requirement to accurately monitor and protect Resorts World’s guests, facility and personnel demanded a state-of-the-art solution that could meet its complex security needs.

Gallagher, the key component

In order to create and maintain a safe and secure environment for all, Gallagher worked closely with Resorts World to understand its unique challenges. A comprehensive security and surveillance programme was implemented to seamlessly integrate people, processes and technology. This program included:

• Integrated Gallagher solution to control doors and acknowledge alarms. If an alarm is activated the monitor room lighting turns red.

• Open process control integration to automatically generate alerts. These alerts convert to a WAV (audio) file that announces the location of the alert.

• Interface and automatic export of the Employee Dining Buffet record to payroll weekly.

The Surveillance Technical Department staff have completed the Gallagher Access Technician Training Course and are qualified as first responders.

“Security of the property is key to the success of our business,” says Erwen Brausam, director of surveillance at Resorts World Casino New York City. “Having a system that is capable of numerous customisations, while being scalable to the constant demand for growth, proves it is an all-around solid security system for our environment.”

Streamlined health and safety processes

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Resorts World Casino developed a comprehensive 21-point safety plan for both employees and guests. As part of this, all team members must complete mandatory health screening questionnaires via a fixed terminal at the employee entrance. “This process is streamlined and requires minimal contact due to the seamless integration of the Gallagher system with employee access cards,” says Brausam.

Resorts World Casino New York City identified a need for a solution that would disable employee access cards at the end of their shift. Employees would then be required to pass through a security checkpoint at the start of their day to reactivate their access card. To streamline this process, Resorts World selected Gallagher’s Action on Access integration.

Brausam explains, “This significantly enhanced the security of the property by taking fear out of the equation. ID badges are no longer active while off property. Activation of the ID is done in the presence of security, meaning unauthorised access to the property due to a lost ID badge is no longer a concern.

“Additionally, in the event of an emergency, a report can be run producing an accurate account of who is in the building. Lastly, it requires staff to enter and exit the property though one particular entrance, limiting the possibility of internal theft. Ultimately, Action on Access delivers a two-fold protection plan.”

Cardholder selection is regulated by the state to ensure that no individual has full capability to create a complete cardholder credential or select access for the cardholder. In order to maintain compliance with state regulations, RWNYC uses features included with Gallagher Command Centre such as: dual access point authorisation, interlocks and alarms tied in with output to control lights, as well as additional device notifications. To provide increased protection, several mantraps were positioned in critical areas of the facility. This step, in conjunction with Action on Access, provides a significant safety measure as it allows for the enabling and disabling of card access with time restraints, in the event a card is lost or compromised.

“With Gallagher’s software updates, we’ve been creating more customised views for our staff to better monitor particular areas,” says Brausam.

Gallagher’s security solution affords RWNYC a reduction of five to eight hours of labour per week by using Command Centre’s reporting and auditing capabilities. “The Gallagher system is fully customisable to meet and exceed gaming regulations for this property. It is modular and can be divided into multi-tenant features. Gallagher’s functionality and flexibility is only limited by your imagination,” summarises Brausam.

Gallagher Command Centre is at the centre of Resorts World Casino New York City’s thorough and complex security programme, helping protect the world class entertainment facility by safeguarding physical property, minimising risk and reducing operational costs.

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