BRADLEY, Mich. (WZZM)- Gun Lake Casino is gearing up for it's big grand opening in the middle of February. This week the casino is wrapping up training for dozens of security officers hired to keep staff and customers safe.
Friday, the new hires got intensive training in CPR and other emergency medical training.
"If something happens on our property we are
Smith says making sure their security staff is trained to respond quickly to those type of situations is a top priority for Gun Lake. The casino, which is scheduled to open next month, has spent weeks training 54 new security officers, 6 of which will be supervisors. Without a doubt those officers will need to know how to operate with large crowds.
"I would dare say on a busy night an estimate would probably be anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000. That's a lot of people," said Larry Orlowski, the director of security.
Orlowski says they want to security staff to have a non-threatening presence largely because the casino is putting a premium on guest relations.
Security is the ultimate guest service we can provide," he said. "The priority is to focus on the guest and for our team members to keep a safe environment and fun environment."
He says while they don't anticipate having any trouble, guests should rest assured their trained staff will know how to deal with it if it occurs.
A security officer in a casino world is basically an ambassador. We want them to diffuse the situation right away. We are not looking for someone to grab someone by the nap of the neck and throw them out of the building," said Orlowski who added they will rely heavily on verbal conflict resolution strategies.
Kurt Katje, a new security officer says, "These people are going to be just a little bit different. You want them to come back so you want to talk to them in a good manner. Y ou want to build that rapport with them and get the situation handled in a friendly manner."
Katje, a former Plainwell police officer says "most of the time just your presence alone or just bringing it to a person's attention will just change a person's attitude." Adding that sometimes, "a select few are not going to sit there an listen to you. They want to take it to that next level. So when it does, through our training, we can take it to that next level."
Trainers say these methods are tried and true and have proven to be the most effective way to manage security in a casino environment.
"We are there to make sure everyone has a fun and enjoyable time," said Katje.
Classroom training for the security officers ended Friday. From this point until the casino opening their training will be on the actual casino floor walking through scenarios that might come up and learning the environment they are going to be working in.
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