Security Office Wanted: Must be flexible and adaptable

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Security Officer Wanted


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Must be flexible and adaptable...

The security officer has one of the most challenging and least appreciated roles on the gaming floor. Security officers are expected to be open and welcoming to guests at the front entrance and yet firm and authoritative in keeping out minors, drunks and other persons not permitted in the casinos. On the floor, they are expected to be knowledgeable and helpful, but ready to intervene at a moments notice to deal with the occasional unruly and sometimes violent patron. They are usually the first responders in medical emergencies where they must deal with both the physical and the emotional side of the event. They need to contribute to a sense of safety and security and yet not so much that it diminishes the sense of fun and excitement the casinos work so hard to create. While these different roles do not necessarily conflict, finding the right balance is certainly no small matter and the emotions and attitudes that lie behind one role sometimes blur into another.

Finding the right people to fill these positions can be a considerable challenge. It is not as if they are paid a handsome sum and few will actually aspire to make this their life’s work. A number of the younger applicants will see this as a bridge to a career in law enforcement, which may well be the case, but a law enforcement orientation is not what you are looking for on the casino floor. In the end, you are really looking for common sense, the right attitude and the flexibility and adaptability to seamlessly switch from one role to another. These abilities are very difficult to assess through a recruitment process. For this reason, many security departments bring in new persons on a casual basis in order to test them in a live environment before committing to a permanent hire.

Even if you do hire the right person, that person will be doomed to failure if not brought into the right environment. Some older and well-established security departments struggle to reorient their function around customer service and a new and promising hire can quickly find they are adapting to the established norm. This is particularly the case when hiring small numbers as critical mass becomes difficult to achieve. In these situations, the challenge for security directors is to move the entire department towards that customer service focus and not all persons will be easily moved.

For those persons not easily moved, the security director must put the framework in place to bring the slow adapters along and ensure they are not undermining the spirit and effort of the new hires. While it may seem self evident, standards need to be in place which treat customer service as a priority. A standard as simple as acknowledging the arrival of a customer by the security officer can have significant impact. The training program must of course be consistent with the standards and unless it has been reviewed in the last several years, it may well be heavily skewed towards law enforcement and the technical aspects of casino security. Once the appropriate training program is established, the performance evaluation process can be employed to help bring along the more intransigent workers and to recognize and reward those who are meeting the new expectations.

With time and persistence, the individual security officer and the department as a whole can be seen as key components in ensuring the delivery of good customer service, while at the same time ensuring the gaming environment is both safe and secure. The ability to contribute in so many ways to the success of the property is a source of job enrichment for the individual and a more effective use of this valuable resource, but to make it all work, the officer needs to be flexible, adaptable and ready to play a wide variety of roles on a moments notice.

By Gerald N. Boose, contributing writer in the field of security, surveillance and regulatory compliance, and Past President of the Canadian Association of Casino Security Directors.