Actually, some casinos still employ video tape, according to Nevada Gaming Control Board Deputy Chief of Enforcement James Taylor. However, whether one’s method of recording is analog or digital, there’s only so much data that can be stored. "Our surveillance standard is that [recordings] have to be kept for a minimum of a week. It’s always been seven days for 20 years. Some may stretch that out but it’s a lot of storage space if you go beyond seven days. You have thousands of cameras recording hours of data. All of that has to be stored on hard drives somewhere. To mandate that they [store] it for 30 days is just impossible." Imagine the adjunct structures that would have to be built to contain it all!
According to the pertinent Nevada gaming regulations, there is an exception to the seven-day rule if the cameras record a patron being detained. In that case, the footage must be retained for a month. They must also be able to convert surveillance footage to still photographs, to be shared with Nevada Gaming Control Board agents. Casinos must also keep detailed records of surveillance malfunctions, including "the date the malfunction is repaired and where applicable, any alternative security measures that were taken." The regulations spell out in detail what constitutes acceptable digital video surveillance.
The regulations also stipulate, "All digital video disks or other storage media produced from the DVR system must contain the data with the time and date it was recorded superimposed." This is no small matter: The Las Vegas Hilton was caught tampering with its surveillance footage in a sexual-harassment incident involving former basketball player Dennis Rodman, back when Rodman was still a sought-after high roller in Vegas casinos. Before the surveillance equipment is installed, a digital "watermark" or verification-encryption code must be submitted to the Control Board for approval, at the casino’s expense.
In other words, Nevada regulators have the waterfront pretty well covered when it comes to video surveillance of Silver State casinos, which has come a long from the days when "surveillance" consisted of men on catwalks above the gaming floor, watching the games through tank periscopes or with mirrors -- all of which may, or may not, be a comfort to those who are reading this.
