KOAM TV 7 Joplin and Pittsburg News Weather SportsInside glance of Downstream Casino's security department
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OTTAWA COUNTY, OKLA. - The Quapaw Tribe's Downstream Casino and Resort celebrates its first anniversary, and the facility's security department is busily preparing for the festivities.
A security force of nearly 100 guards keep watch over the Downstream Casino and Resort, a tough task for even the more experienced in law enforcement.
"I spent 22 years in law enforcement, so it was a big challenge, a big change of pace," says Director of Security Bill Goodwin. "Working in a police department you are kind of in a sheltered world, for lack of a better term, and it's very different coming back to what we call the real world."
After working for the Joplin Police Department Goodwin is now in charge security at Downstream Casino and Resort, and he built his team from the ground up.
Now Goodwin says the size of Downstream's detail is comparable to the Joplin Police Department.
Security guards man the casino floor, hotel, parking lot, golf course, and other surrounding property 24 hours a day.
"The first year that we were open we had somewhere around 40,000 calls for service for the security department, and we run about 70,000 a year in Joplin, so you can see it's a very busy place."
Goodwin says the most common cases his staff handles are petty thefts, like people using credits on slot machines that are not theirs.
Goodwin says there are also a number of medical emergencies.
He says his team has a 100% success rate when it comes to major incidents.
"In all the major cases, that's correct," Goodwin says. "Now, some of the smaller incidents like the ticket thefts, it just depends on how soon we hear about them. If we hear about them within a couple of minutes then we get almost all of those. But if there is a 15-20 minutes time lag before someone realizes they've lost something, a lot of times people will cash those things and go."
Goodwin says his department specializes in customer service, but don't be fooled. With nearly 100 guards, an in-house investigator and cameras watching you in nearly every place, they will continue to strive for safety and security at Downstream.
He says having the large security department at the resort has a huge impact on the surrounding community, not only in terms of safety, but economically as well.
"We have 1100 to 1200 people working," Goodwin says. "There were a lot of people out of jobs so this provides them a place to work and they enjoy working here - it's a fun place to be and of course with that came our fire and medical service over here which we didn't have in this corner of the state, so now they can respond as needed."
Goodwin says his department is now preparing for it's next challenge - the anniversary celebration and concert on Sunday.
Creedence Clearwater Revisited will perform in a concert at 8 p.m. Sunday with a fireworks display afterwards.
By NINA CRISCUOLO
