Leaked Memo Reveals New MGM Resorts Security Policy to Restrict Movement Around Hotel Properties

Posted on: February 6, 2019, 02:56h. 

Last updated on: February 6, 2019, 02:56h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

A memo leaked by an employee of MGM Resorts and posted on Twitter this week by Vital Vegas revealed that the company has tightened its elevator security policy in response to the Las Vegas shooting of October 1, 2017.

MGM Resorts
Stephen Paddock perpetrated the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history from his room at MGM Resort’s Mandalay Bay on October 1, 2017, killing 58 people and injuring over 800, when he opened fire on a country music festival across the Strip. (Image: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

As of Monday, February 4, guests at MGM properties will no longer be able to take the elevator to any floor in the hotel. Their electronic room key will only permit them to alight on their own floor.

It’s not immediately clear how this would have stopped mass murderer Stephen Paddock from stockpiling a cache of high-powered rifles in his room at the Mandalay Bay. But his subsequent actions — and the free rein of the property he enjoyed as a perk of being a high roller — has clearly made MGM reconsider the wisdom of granting guests access to areas where they don’t need to be.

The gunman’s VIP status with MGM gave him “exclusive access” to a service elevator at Mandalay Bay, which likely made it easier for him to smuggle his arsenal of 23 firearms to his room without arousing suspicion.

Door Closed to Door Pushers?

But the more general security benefits of the new policy are clear. It’s likely to bring about a reduction in room robberies and assaults — and the chilling practice of “door pushing.”

Metro Police have said it is not uncommon for thieves to roam the hotel corridors of Las Vegas, testing doors to see if their occupants have left them unlocked.

In June last year, the two Vietnamese tourists, Sang Boi Nghia and Khuong Ba Le Nguyen, were stabbed to death in their room at Circus-Circus — an MGM property — allegedly the victims of door pusher Julius Trotter, who could face the death penalty if convicted of the double murder.

Freedom Versus Security

Hotel security expert Mac Segal told Fox 5 Vegas that the elevator floor restriction has been the policy in hotels in other parts of the world for some time.

“It is nice to see [MGM] moving forward, they are taking it more seriously,” he said. “And this is a huge challenge because strip hotels are like no other hotels on the planet.

“This isn’t about 1 October, this is about sexual assault, and paparazzi and will it be a little inconvenient? Yes. But security is a see-saw, on one side you have security and on the other you have freedom. You give up freedom to be secure, so this is a small price to pay.”

Among those reportedly finding the new rules particularly inconvenient are the practitioners of the world’s oldest profession, according to a source who spoke to Fox 5 News. Apparently, the call girls of Las Vegas are complaining the sudden restriction of mobility is cramping their style.