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Casino

SavageOne

Regular Member
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Oct 8, 2009
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577
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SEMO, , USA
Just one mild correction, those are NOT security guards, they are indeed law enforcement, a branch of the Missouri state highway patrol. I mention it because the rules are significantly different for how one must interact. You can ignore a security guard but a lawful order from a LEO has penalties.


Let me see if I have this correct. We have agents of the State stationed at private business establishments? If they are not agents of the owner or management how could they ask you to leave? It was my understanding that LE may ask you to leave ONLY after the owner or an agent of the owner had asked you to leave.
 

LMTD

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Let me see if I have this correct. We have agents of the State stationed at private business establishments? If they are not agents of the owner or management how could they ask you to leave?

You have it incorrect.

We have state police at a state regulated gaming facility as well as state gaming agents at these facilities as well, it is defined in the license of the gamining facilities.

In other words, the casino's have to pay the state for the licensed state police officers to be there, they have to maintain the holding facilities there and all cost to of it themselves, there is no tax payer cost, but the folks you see in uniform are indeed employees of the state not the casino aka REAL COPS not rentacops with a license to carry a firearm as a rentacop. They can and will arrest for any violation of state or federal law and their orders carry just as much weight as any police officer on the street.

That is a sizable difference from your standard mall cop who has no recourse beyond telling you to leave and calls the cops if you do not and then you must leave when the real cop says so or be charged.

You can not be charged with resisting arrest from a mallcop you certainly will be from the state police officer at a casino in MO. This would pply to a brownie acting as security their powers are some what limited.

I may be saying this in some technically incorrect manner but let me be perfectly clear, the security inside the casino is "the Missouri gaming commission" and the gaming commission is overseen aka a division of "the Missouri Highway patrol" aka very real cops. The security guys in the parking lot are just that, security guys, but the ones on the inside are LEO's.
 

lancers

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Joined
Sep 18, 2008
Messages
231
Location
St. Louis, Missouri, USA
I may be saying this in some technically incorrect manner but let me be perfectly clear, the security inside the casino is "the Missouri gaming commission" and the gaming commission is overseen aka a division of "the Missouri Highway patrol" aka very real cops. The security guys in the parking lot are just that, security guys, but the ones on the inside are LEO's.

That is not quite right. There is normally only 1-2 Missouri Highway Patrol Gaming Troopers at a casino at one time and they rarely are out on the gaming floor. The rest of the people (at the door, walking around) are in fact hired security by the casino. My proof of this is my friend worked as security inside River City Casino. Also, at another St. Louis Casino, I was with my dad (I don't gamble) and a drunk guy was starting trouble with him at a blackjack table. My dad got up to leave and the guy through a glass across the casino at him. Of course security grabbed the guy, but we had to talk to a MSHP Gaming Trooper that wasn't even on the floor. He was wearing a suit and a MSHP badge.

You can normally find the Troopers' cars parked outside. They are unmarked Crown Vics, but have Highway Patrol plates. It's rare to see more than two at one casino.
 

LMTD

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They have BOTH security and MHP, the parking lot and the camera systems are manned by security, the other guards on the inside are part of the gaming commission not the casino, the additional HP are indeed the HP officers that oversee the gaming commission persons, they turn criminals over to the state police but they are LEO's in every sense of the word, just a sub-group of MHP.

It is how they got some support politicly to even bring gaming to MO, the MHP was against it until they got their part of the pie.
 

StevenSTL

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Joined
Jan 3, 2011
Messages
96
Location
St. Charles
They have BOTH security and MHP, the parking lot and the camera systems are manned by security, the other guards on the inside are part of the gaming commission not the casino, the additional HP are indeed the HP officers that oversee the gaming commission persons, they turn criminals over to the state police but they are LEO's in every sense of the word, just a sub-group of MHP.

It is how they got some support politicly to even bring gaming to MO, the MHP was against it until they got their part of the pie.

LMTD, you are incorrect with this. I work at Ameristar in St. Charles. Lancers was correct with what he was saying. The people at the entrance of the casino are the same people that patrol the parking lot. They are hired security of Ameristar. We usually have 4-5 Missouri Gaming guys in the building. Those guys are a branch of the Missouri Highway Patrol. They wear suits with jackets a size too big because they are concealing Glock 23's underneath them. I've had long talks about guns with some that I'm more familiar with.
 

LMTD

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LMTD, you are incorrect with this. I work at Ameristar in St. Charles.

I guess it could have changed over the years, you work there, I don't, but in the beginning that was a large part of how they got the cops on board for the vote.

It is some what like the CCW issue, there was no blood in the street and there are not prostitutes on every corner as was proclaimed if gaming came.

It may have even changed when they stopped cruising etc, I do not visit them much and only remember the history and the oddity that the gaming commission went so far as to place them under the highway patrol.
 

StevenSTL

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2011
Messages
96
Location
St. Charles
I guess it could have changed over the years, you work there, I don't, but in the beginning that was a large part of how they got the cops on board for the vote.

It is some what like the CCW issue, there was no blood in the street and there are not prostitutes on every corner as was proclaimed if gaming came.

It may have even changed when they stopped cruising etc, I do not visit them much and only remember the history and the oddity that the gaming commission went so far as to place them under the highway patrol.

I'm young and have only been working there for 3 years, so I'm not sure what it was like before I started. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gaming Commission used to be a lot more strict with them. They still keep a pretty tight leash on us.
 
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