Skip to content

B.C. casino regulator calls for better reporting of customer misbehaviour

Survey finds unreported incidents of assault, sexual harassment
16647553_web1_casino_wheel
Casinos in B.C. are subject to stringent rules on reporting incidents of possible criminal behaviour. (Black Press File).

The B.C. government’s casino regulators have called for stricter reporting of incidents that may be criminal, after a security survey at the River Rock Casino in Richmond found 17 incidents that inspectors said should have been reported.

The Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch (GPEB) hired Paladin Security to review incidents in 2017, and found that some of them were not reported to the branch as required by regulations. None of them were directly related to gambling or cash handling at the casino.

“The Paladin Security final report identified 17 ‘unreported’ incidents of assault, sexual assault, uttering threats, harassment and sexual harassment,” GPEB said in its report, released Wednesday. Incidents involved casino patrons interacting with employees, and one case of alleged assault by one patron on another.

Follow-up by GPEB investigators found one case of a patron allegedly playing “footsie” with a dealer, who said the incident was reported to a dealer supervisor and the manager of the VIP area of the casino. No report to GPEB could be located.

B.C. casinos have a legal obligation to report potential criminal code violations, including incidents of theft, cheating at play or leaving children unattended.


@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.