Casino Fights Release of Leering Surveillance Video

Oct. 6, 2005
Caesars Atlantic City files brief to keep video private, saying victims' privacy would be violated

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A casino whose surveillance camera operators were caught spying on women has asked New Jersey regulators to bar the release of the videotaped footage, saying it would violate the privacy of the victims.

The cameras, which are required under New Jersey law for all parts of casinos where gambling is done, are installed in the ceilings to watch for cheating by gamblers or collusion between them and casino employees.

But last October, four members of the security surveillance staff at Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino aimed the so-called eye-in-the-sky cameras on the breasts and buttocks of certain women during overnight shifts at the casino. The four were fired, and Caesars has agreed to pay a $185,000 fine over the incidents.

In a brief filed Monday with the state Casino Control Commission, Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino asked that the footage not be released to the public, citing the privacy of both the intended targets of the cameras and other women who were filmed.

"While these patrons may have been aware ofthe existence of casino security cameras, none of them could have possibly anticipated that videotapes of their activities would be shown outside of the casino, to the media or to the general public," the brief said.