Stratosphere: A World Class Attraction with a World Class Security System

It towers 1,149 feet above the desert floor – making it the tallest freestanding structure west of the Mississippi. It holds claim to the highest roller coaster in the world. It has 1,500 rooms, a 97,000-square-foot casino, a 120,000-square-foot retail complex and a 4,000-space parking garage.

It is the Stratosphere, one of the latest hot spots for the millions of visitors every year who journey to the Mecca of adult entertainment – Las Vegas, Nevada. This unusual combination of gaming, amusement park-like thrill rides, retail and hotel space required one of the most sophisticated and versatile security systems in a town where security already is on the edge of the cutting edge.

"It was a challenge," said Dell Bean of International Electronic Protection (IEP), Limited, the security products dealer who, along with partner Terry Reader, put together the Stratosphere security system.

"We have more than 1,200 cameras in the first phase of this project and all of them are being recorded," said Bean. "That is unusual for a large casino system, but our attitude is, what good is a camera if you aren’t recording it?"

This dedication to documentation makes for a very complex and complete system. Security is split into two functions. The first is physical security and dispatch. The second is surveillance, which involves monitoring the gaming operations at the Stratosphere casino. Each function has its own control room and director.

The system uses an American Dynamics® MegaPower II satellite switcher, manufactured by Tyco Fire & Security Video Systems.” We selected the American Dynamics switcher because of its expandability. We knew this project was going to grow and we needed something that would grow with it," said Bean.

Cameras are grouped into four remote satellite-switching bays. This allows the cameras to be controlled from the main control room and cuts down on the amount of cable needed – making the system less cumbersome and more streamlined.

Each camera is recorded by either a black-and-white Robot® Multiplexer (MV16) or a color Robot Multiplexer (MV99), also manufactured by Tyco Fire & Security Video Systems. A few selected cameras are recorded using a dedicated video recorder. The system uses Real Time 24-Hour VCRs. Bean said different jurisdictions require different recording procedures for identification and admissibility in court. In general, the 24-hour VCRs work for the Stratosphere, but they do use some of the VCRs in the eight-hour mode and change tapes three times-a-day.

Both control rooms are located in the rear of the casino and hotel. The surveillance control room station includes 10 16-inch black and white monitors, 10 14-inch color monitors, and four 45-inch rear projection monitors. Three operators and one supervisor are on duty at all times and each operator station has two built-in controllable monitors and one computer. The rest of the monitors are placed in racks. The physical security control room has 16 controllable black-and-white monitors and two operator stations. Both rooms are staffed around the clock. The radio frequency dispatch is also located in this control room with two dispatch operators at all times.

The rides at the top of the Stratosphere are also closely monitored. There are 12 to 14 cameras watching the entrance point to the amusement area.

"Our biggest challenge has been keeping up with the needs of this project," said Bean

Of the 1,200 cameras, approximately 700 are devoted to physical security. There are 160 cameras in the Stratosphere tower, 200 in the hotel monitoring hallways and elevators, 160 in the parking garage and 180 in the back of the house. The additional 500 cameras are part of surveillance security and are dedicated to monitoring gaming activities, cashier stations, and money handling areas.