Casinos, much like banks, have always experienced higher robbery rates than other businesses, primarily due to the increased levels of cash on hand. Las Vegas casinos have always dealt with crime, but robberies have gone up in recent months, and there’s no clear answer as to why that is.
According to a recent deep-dive by the Las Vegas Sun, the following casinos around the city have all dealt with robberies or attempted robberies since November:
- Green Valley Resort
- Gold Coast
- Silverton
- Caesars Palace
- Rampart Resort
- Resorts World
Most of the perpetrators are still at large, but a spokesperson for the city’s Metro Police Department told the Sun that the force is currently working to identify one individual who is believed to have been responsible for more than one of the aforementioned heists.
Michael Green, a history professor at UNLV, told the Sun that economic hardships brought on by inflation and the effects of the Covid pandemic could potentially be a motivating factor for the increased levels of theft.
He also noted, however, that from a security perspective, “whatever is now in place doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to.”
Investigating casino robberies is very difficult because operators are often intentionally vague about their security systems or any specific incidents, in efforts to quell guests’ concerns and prevent future crime. For all of the thefts listed above, there are no details available as far as how much money was stolen or how the suspects successfully made off with the money.
Even though a large percentage of robberies are the result of opportunity or desperation, some criminals are professionals who happen to specialize in casinos.
For example, the heist at Resorts World in November was carried out by Zubaid Al Jarmi, who, ironically enough, was on probation at the time for a 2020 robbery at the Venetian.
Al Jarmi fled the scene with thousands of dollars from the casino cage after presenting a note threatening to kill the attendant if she didn’t comply. According to Metro, he then returned to Resorts World later that day to revel in his success and watch the investigation unfold, which ultimately aided in his capture in the following days.
Scott Morrow, a gaming and hospitality professor at UNLV, told the Sun that he felt crime rates in casinos would go down if they boasted more openly about their security resources, but operators have largely stood pat on their policy to not discuss any surveillance or security details.
Morrow told the Sun that he doesn’t understand why criminals “would choose the casino environment, because it, in my opinion, would be very difficult to get away with something like that.”
With regards to the recent increase in robberies, however, Morrow said he hopes “that it’s an unfortunate coincidence.”
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