More police, security, screenings

Wynn Las Vegas and Encore are rolling out a strategic Friday through Sunday evenings security protocol, which includes additional screenings, a beefed-up police and security force, and a K-9 team.

According to a Monday statement from Wynn Las Vegas, guests who enter either hotel tower during the specified window will be scanned for metal. Any bags carried onto the properties will also be screened. These measures will add to the already established practice of scanning room keys at elevators to ensure only registered guests gain access to the hotel proper.

ex-US military from multiple branches, including Special Operations

Wynn also announced it had increased its uniformed Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) force. In addition, it has enlarged its own internal security force, comprising former law enforcement officers, former Feds, ex-counter-terrorism operators, and ex-US military from multiple branches, including Special Operations. The Vegas casino operator didn’t stop there, adding crisis and tactical response, mobile and static officers and surveillance, and a canine team. Wynn has added other departments, which it said it does not disclose.

Wynn’s heightened security measures comes in the wake of a “successful pilot program” which was trialed a few weeks ago.

Into an era of enforcement

“These changes to our security program are devised to ensure our guests can continue to enjoy those experiences in a relaxed and safe atmosphere,” said Wynn Las Vegas president Marilyn Spiegel in the Monday press release.

reports of increased violence in the tourist sector

The changes also follow the LVMPD’s reports of increased violence in the tourist sector. This includes a 29% increase over 2019 in aggravated assaults in the Convention Center Area Command (CCAC) alone, a corridor that includes most of the resorts on the Las Vegas boulevard.

Currently, the LVMPD is investigating multiple Sin City homicides that occurred within a short period of time. At 12:30am Monday, officers were called to a house party where a male in his early 20s died from multiple gunshot wounds. This follows two deaths on Sunday near the South Point Hotel Casino & Spa.

Within the South Point property itself at around 4:30pm, two security officers shot several deadly rounds into a hostile, homeless gunman. At 11:30am and just a six-minute walk from South Point, a man was fatally stabbed the hallway of a timeshare building.

Crime wave keeping detectives busy

The coroner’s office is still working on identifying the three recently deceased males. According to a report by the Associated Press, while the LVMPD could not provide additional information on the cases on Monday, its investigative units were being kept busy.

“Anytime something like this happens, we want to make sure we’re exhausting all leads and identify any and all suspects involved,” said LVMPD Public Information Officer Misael Parra.

Greg Mullen, vice president of CDC Consulting, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the surge in violence is Las Vegas “is directly tied to casino-resorts’ low room rates.”

A YouTube video went viral after a violent crowd incident at Encore on September 5, featuring a group of people a Wynn Resorts spokesman said were not guests.

Following the incident at Encore, Wynn Resorts Ltd., spokesman Michael Weaver said at the time his company would increase its room rates and invest in its security workforce and protocols.