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Las Vegas Shooting Underscores Hotel Security Choices - The New York Times

posted onOctober 3, 2017
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Article snippet: Before a gunman killed more than 50 people in Las Vegas on Sunday, the police said he brought an arsenal of rifles past security and up to his 32nd-floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel. That the shooter — Stephen Paddock — was able to take at least 17 firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition up to a room starkly highlights the security priorities of hospitality companies: Wishing to appear inviting to guests, many hotels employ a lighter touch. Security at most hotels instead focuses on limiting theft, corralling unruly drunks and ferreting out people wandering the halls without a room, said Mac Segal, a security consultant for an executive protection company, AS Solution. Hotels in the United States and Europe have been “much slower on the uptake” regarding the chances of violence, compared to the Middle East and Africa, where he does most of his business, he said. Then there is the matter of guests preferring to be left alone. Explosives scanners and X-ray machines — standard equipment at airport terminals — will continue to be scarce in hotels because of the enormous premium that customers place on their privacy, said Jim Stover, a senior vice president of the real estate and hospitality practice at the Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an insurance brokerage. “The hospitality industry hasn’t gotten its act together in terms of antiterrorism,” he said. “It’s not going to be pushed, it has to be pulled.” In countries where hotels have been targeted by attacke... Link to the full article to read more

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