Barb Caffrey's Blog

Folks, it’s getting bad out there when you can’t even go to a casino anymore to try to get away from it all.

Early Sunday morning, a 27-year-old man shot his 23-year-old girlfriend after an altercation at Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Bingo Casino according to several television reports (Fox 6, CBS 58, WTMJ 4 among them).  The girlfriend was shot in the leg and taken to Froedtert Hospital, while the boyfriend was arrested.  Then the casino told everyone to leave.  (Here’s a link to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s report about the casino’s Sunday morning re-opening at 9 a.m.)

After all that, the casino itself put out a statement praising its security guards, but of course the patrons who actually were there at the time had different stories.  According to several televised reports, most of the security guards cowered under tables or on the floor, and did not help patrons get out safely, though a few apparently did their best.  And casino workers such as blackjack dealers and cocktail waitresses apparently had no idea what to do, though one security guard apparently told at least one card dealer to “safeguard his chips” according to the various reports.

Look.  I’ve been to Potawatomi Bingo Casino several times.  It’s the closest place to play bingo most nights, and I’ve always viewed it as a safe and even a relaxing place to go.

However, due to these various news reports all basically saying that most of the employees didn’t have any idea how to help the casino patrons in an emergency situation, I will now think twice about going down there.

As one man said in the Journal-Sentinel article linked above, maybe it’s time for Potawatomi to install metal detectors.  (Not so good for people with artificial hips, of course, but can’t that be worked around?)

And maybe — just maybe — Potawatomi should spend some of its profits on training its employees to handle any emergency situation thrown at them, so the reports of so many employees not having any idea what to do — much less most of them abrogating their responsibilities in helping the various patrons of the casino get out safely — will never happen again.