The casino is one place of entertainment where you will find surveillance in action, simply because of the vast amount of money that passes between the hands of staff and customers. The thief could be anyone: a customer, a dealer, a bartender or even a cleaner; and in the multi-million dollar casinos of Las Vegas, you will find the most sophisticated of security systems at work.
Everyone is constantly being watched, thanks to the ‘hopefully-honest’ casino security team whose job it is to scrutinise and control a bank of TV monitors. These are continually being fed with real-time images from cameras carefully situated around the gaming arena. Every camera will be under the control of the operator and can be made to zoom in and focus on a likely suspect. These cameras, together with carefully placed highly-sensitive and directional microphones that can pick up a conversation, provide for a state-of-the-art security monitoring system.
The simplest of security methods used in a casino is the two-way mirror, often confused with the one-way mirror. A one-way mirror is basically a pane of glass coated with a thick, fully-reflective layer of metal, usually aluminium, whereas a two-way mirror is coated with a very thin partially-transparent layer. Someone can see from a dark room into a light room but not vice-versa.
Everyone is constantly being watched, thanks to the ‘hopefully-honest’ casino security team whose job it is to scrutinise and control a bank of TV monitors. These are continually being fed with real-time images from cameras carefully situated around the gaming arena. Every camera will be under the control of the operator and can be made to zoom in and focus on a likely suspect. These cameras, together with carefully placed highly-sensitive and directional microphones that can pick up a conversation, provide for a state-of-the-art security monitoring system.
The simplest of security methods used in a casino is the two-way mirror, often confused with the one-way mirror. A one-way mirror is basically a pane of glass coated with a thick, fully-reflective layer of metal, usually aluminium, whereas a two-way mirror is coated with a very thin partially-transparent layer. Someone can see from a dark room into a light room but not vice-versa.
Two-way mirrors allow casino security staff to watch someone who seems to be acting suspiciously, without their being aware of the fact. The two-way mirror is also used extensively in interrogation rooms and other establishments where there is a need to observe someone (in some cases for their own protection) without their knowledge.