Punched by a drunk and looking for help

People often wonder what I do for a living. I usually tell them about my work in expanding UNLV’s gaming collections, doing outreach for the Center, and working on the Center website. But I also answer a ton of email. Today, I’m stuck for a story to post about, so I thought I’d give you, the reader, a glimpse into what my email inbox looks like. This is a real email, followed by my authentic reply:

—– Original Message —–
From: XXXXX
To: dgs@unlv.nevada.edu
Sent: Sunday, March 25, 2007 11:12 PM
Subject: A question for you

Just wondering what the policies are if a person gets assaulted (punched in the face )in a casino by an unknown drunk person ?
I am not sure if this is the right place to address this
Thank you for your time
XXXXX

Luckily, I’m well qualified to answer questions like this one, having working in both casino security and surveillance and several other security/crowd control jobs. It took about 5 minutes to craft this answer:

XXXXXX,
If this wasn’t documented, the victim would have to approach a security officer, tell him/her about the incident, and give a description of the assailant and his/her direction of flight. Security could then request a review of surveillance footage to see if the attack was documented and put out an APB for the assailant. If the assailant was found, the victim could press charges, charges that would be strengthened if surveillance footage backed hi/her version of events.
If this wasn’t immediately documented, it will be nearly impossible to press charges, since the assailant is no longer near the scene and the surveillance tapes may have been deleted. When anything happens in a casino, it is critical to document it immediately.

Dave

_____________________________
David G. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Gaming Research
University of Nevada Las Vegas
(702) 895-2242
http://gaming.unlv.edu
http://www.dieiscast.com

I’m off to a meeting (more of what I do), but I’ll post my thoughts on this when I get back.

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