LAS VEGAS--Amidst talk about the economic crisis, a former Las Vegas police department veteran urged security practitioners to create provisions to limit the likelihood of workplace violence occurring on their properties.

"In today's environment, now is not the time to minimize" security and surveillance efforts, said Bill Tullock, a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police crime prevention specialist. "Have a game plan in place before something happens."

In an age when layoffs are becoming more of the norm, Tullock stressed that now is not the time to reduce security operations and cited that workplace violence costs employees approximately $3.5 billion annually due to increased healthcare and legal costs, and lost employee productivity.

Tullock presented his thoughts on the topic during an educational session on the first day of the Global Gaming Expo here. Although attendance during the day's forums was light, hundreds of attendees waited in line at the Palms to gain entrance into the welcome reception at Rain nightclub.

During the day at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Darrin Hoke, director of surveillance at L'Auberge Du Lac Hotel, tackled the topic of retail loss prevention in the casino environment. He said practitioners have to be knowledgeable about "what's new and what is trendy" as that is what is most targeted by shoplifters. He also said that it is critical to be proactive when it comes to retail crime because shoplifting and retail crime are "on the rise in our current economic situation."

But surveillance departments in casinos have to balance their capabilities with customer service, Hoke said. They have to train retail staff on what to look for but "we don't want to take over the window displays," he said. Rather, "we want to show ways to maximize viewing" from a CCTV perspective. This includes arranging displays so as not to block camera views and to reduce blind spots. But when looking at the big picture, technology only plays a small role.

Customer service is the "best thing to do," he said. If you acknowledge a customer when he enters a casino or a store he is less apt to commit a crime, and it becomes more likely that he will "turn around and go somewhere down the street."

Hoke also said behavior profiling is another useful tool. "Profiling is a controversial word, but it is an appropriate word," he said, adding that profiling body language is a regular and effective practice, but security professionals need to make sure their program has "teeth and it means something" before implementing a program.