One resort ownership group has taken steps to prevent terrorism in Las Vegas to the next level. Caesars Entertainment is training its personnel to spot a bomb before it goes off.
Earlier this week, 8 News NOW broke the news that the Las Vegas Strip was featured in a new ISIS propaganda video. On the video discovered by intelligence officials last week, ISIS supporters are encouraged to carry out lone wolf attacks in major cities across the country.
Caesars told 8 News NOW exclusively that employees are being trained to notice and understand how powerful explosive devices can be disguised to look like everyday items.
“They will look for weakness,” said George McKerrow, Mac-7 Security Training. “They will tend to go for an easy option, but if we are proactive, then they may drive past and look for someplace else.”
McKerrow is a former British Bomb Squad Agent who is teaching employers and employees how to recognize materials used to make bombs. He’s also showing them how some of those bombs can be hidden inside seemingly mundane items such as a briefcase.
“So if somebody were to open this it would detonate, if somebody was to tilt it, it would detonate,” McKerrow said.
McKerrow also demonstrated how a gym bag could be used to activate a device. He said they could attach a wire to the zipper, which could then trigger the bomb inside.
“So as soon as anyone would unzip that it would do a pressure release device that would detonate it,” according to McKerrow.
He said the same device could also be used on other items, such as laptop keyboards, envelopes, coolers, and lunch-boxes. During the training, security agents were taught to be suspicious of everything, including fast food bags.
At Friday’s session, agents watched rarely seen footage from the aftermath of the Colorado Theater Shooting and International Assassinations. It’s all to learn about the motives of known terrorists so that one day they can prevent a terrorist attack.
Caesars security personnel went through similar training, and they are given regular updates on new information to help keep people safe.