Following the Surveillance Hierarchy

Hierarchies are found in all organizations within all business sectors. They consist of your supervisor and direct reports. A well-defined hierarchy is better for morale, the creation of company culture, efficiency and productivity. Within a standard hierarchy, orders come from the top down when correctly routed.

Within the surveillance room at a casino, hierarchies are extremely important. One common example of a chain of command in a casino is:

1)      Surveillance Investigator reports to:

2)      Surveillance Supervisor who reports to:

3)      Surveillance Director who reports to:

4)      General Manager

Also reporting into the General Manager is:

1)      Casino Manager

2)      Slots Director

3)      Security Director

Reporting into the previous three are:

1)      Casino Shift Manager

2)      Slots Shift Manager

3)      Table Games Manager

Within the surveillance room there are two primary types of hierarchies:

• Those within the surveillance room
• All other departments

There is one simple rule within the surveillance room: no one outside of the surveillance department hierarchy demands orders to the surveillance room staff. Instead, the requests must pass through the proper chain of command. There are certain actions that must be approved by the Surveillance Director. This includes the release of original recordings, composite recordings, special observations and information.

Internal matters relating to personnel issues must also be distributed through the surveillance hierarchy starting with the Director. These instances include ideas, complaints, suggestions and personnel change. For example, the ideal process for an investigator to give an idea to the Director is for them to write it down, give it to the Supervisor who will then give it to the Director. Verbal suggestions are not the route to take as they often are forgotten or overlooked.

Unfortunately, within this type of hierarchy, the Supervisor can easily present the suggestion as his own. Although unfair and deceitful, this type of behavior does occur and when discovered by others, greatly diminishes the Supervisor’s credibility and respect.

It is always important to know the chain of command within other departments. This will help you be more productive, get the answers needed in a reasonable amount of time and generate favors.

Like any type of business, it is important to follow the chains of command within the surveillance room. Those that cannot conform do not last long in their role. A clearly defined hierarchy improves communication, efficiency, productivity and builds excellent report among many different departments.