Minister of National Security Dr. Bernard Nottage said yesterday police may rethink how they patrol areas around local casinos in light of a foiled robbery at the Atlantis Resort. However, Nottage added that hotels have top-notch internal security and may not require extra vigilance from the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF). His comments came a day after police reported that hotel security officers caught three men -- two Atlantis employees and one former worker -- during a foiled robbery attempt of a cashier's cage, located in the basement of the Paradise Island hotel.
The men reportedly gained access to the cashier's cage through the ceiling. "I don't know that there is a need for more police officers in casinos," said Nottage, responding to questions from reporters on the sidelines of an anti-gang workshop. "I think casinos have a pretty good security detail in all of these properties. "But of course we are ready to provide whatever assistance is needed.
The commissioner has not brought to my attention so far any such request, but I'm sure they will now be reassessing the security for these resorts, which are always uppermost in our minds because clearly tourism is the lifeblood of our economy." Police have arrested five men -- two yesterday afternoon -- in connection with the robbery attempt. Four of them are current employees and one is a former worker of the hotel, police said. Three of the suspects were arrested minutes after the incident.
Superintendent Paul Rolle said one man was caught in a ceiling above the cashier's cage, another was caught inside the cage and a third man was found outside the room. Security officers nabbed all three men and turned them over to police. Rolle added that the three men were all wearing Atlantis uniforms; one of the three suspects was dressed in the coveralls that hotel maintenance workers wear. Police also said the men were unmasked and were not armed with any guns, but they did spray noxious gas into the area to disorient staff.
Police said yesterday they found nearly $100,000 in bags in the ceiling above the cashier's cage. Nottage said the thieves were cash-hungry men who did not think of the repercussions their crime could have on the tourism industry. "Somehow we've got to get it in the head of our citizens, these young men, when [crimes] like this are carried out they put at risk the livelihood of their fellow citizens," Nottage said. "I don't think that persons who perpetrate crimes like that give any consideration to the tourism industry or anything else."
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