Casino is in a poor area, but William Hank Thomas protects it Las Vegas-style

Sep 1, 1997 12:00 PM, KATE DOHERTY

William Hank Thomas is a man who stresses accomplishments and character. As director of support services at Harrah's Casino and Hotel, Tunica County, Miss., he oversees nine departments, including risk management and security. Tunica County has been described as one of the poorest rural areas in America, but because of Thomas' leadership, the security operation at Harrah's is on a par with those in Las Vegas. Because of his commitment to helping others, Tunica County is better for having him in its midst.

Thomas says that Tunica County, like other rural communities in America, is in danger of being left behind as technology-related skills become indispensable. That won't happen if he has anything to do with it. Through training and by example, Thomas works to give his staff the opportunity to ride high on the wave of progress.

Shaping a diamond in the rough

Thomas did not go to Harrah's looking for a job; Harrah's went to him and asked him to put together its security force. A graduate of the FBI Academy and a 25-year veteran of the Memphis Police Department from which he retired as captain, Thomas was more than qualified. As a self-proclaimed workaholic, he was more than willing.

"There was limited law enforcement in Tunica County when I took the job," says Thomas. "Now there is a better department with more money and better trained officers, and they're more responsive. When I first came down here, a cow or tractor theft was the biggest deal they had."

There was also no fire protection in place, so the security department brought in a former chief of the Memphis fire department.

Thomas says some type of crime occurs at the casino almost every day-a bad check, someone trying to cheat the casino, a gaming violation.

"We had to put our own investigators in place to prosecute cases and take them to the grand jury if need be-from birth to death," he says. Thomas' department is responsible for tracking and controlling evidence as well. Security serves as a regulatory arm. When Thomas came in, his department was responsible for writing operating procedures that had to comply with Mississippi Gaming Regulations and for writing training procedures.

According to Thomas, "I ensure everything we do meets the rules and regulations set forth by the Mississippi Gaming Commission. I make sure all the reports are in, that people are properly licensed, and that we count the money the way the gaming and state tax commission requests. Any situation that might cause us litigation or liability is handled by my department."

Forming a powerful security alliance

When new to Harrah's, Thomas formed an alliance among casinos to exchange information and ideas that affect the casino industry. "When we came here we quickly realized that the communications, training, equipment and knowledge needed to prosecute casino cases were lacking. Such cases can be very intricate, and for the state of Mississippi, gaming was relatively new," says Thomas. "A lot of the people-even prosecutors-weren't sure how to prosecute cases involving cheats in the casino, so we formed an association-The North Mississippi Casino Security Association (NMCSA). Most of us connected with it are former professional law enforcement officers, DEA, police department or highway patrol, and we realized the need for a good line of communications. If we have a problem at Harrah's, we can round-robin on the fax machine and let all the casinos know about it, alerting them to potential crime or allowing them to offer insight."

The casinos themselves are competitive, but the security departments cannot afford to be, because they need one another too badly. The association meets once a month and brings in speakers from the FBI, secret service, the attorney general's office, the DEA-anyone who can bring something to the table.

Thomas served as president of the association for two years.

An exceptional manager

According to security operations supervisor Dwight Woods, Thomas has developed the security department at Harrah's into one of the best and most respected in the casino business. He established a program of training security officers so that all promotions to lead officer and supervisor are made from within. Woods says he is a testament to that because he started as an officer and worked his way up to operations supervisor, second-in-command.

"Often this is just a job, not a career, for the people working here," says Thomas. "It can be hard to motivate people. You can't be autocratic. You have to challenge them to move up within the organization. We've been fortunate because we've had 24 people come through security who are now in better-paying, higher positions such as department manager. We offer a lot of training to our officers and send them to supervisory schools so they can decide if management is really for them-a lot of people think being the boss is easy," says Thomas.

He believes that teaching people what to do and letting them help make decisions is more productive than telling them what to do. He challenges his staff to take risks as long as the reward outweighs the risk, believing it enhances their sense of self-worth and makes them better candidates for management down the line.

"Our main responsibility is to make sure our guests feel comfortable and safe," says Thomas. "We are proactive and aggressive because we cannot afford to have any kind of black mark against us as far as our regulators are concerned. A casino environment is probably one of the safest places you could ever be, because we're so attentive, because there is so much money involved."

Thomas was twice a finalist for the Chairman's Award-the casino's highest award for outstanding service to the company-in 1995 for leadership and in 1997 for innovation.

Reaching out to others

Thomas is also committed to his community. When he isn't fishing, skiing or spending time with his grandchildren, he might be building houses for Habitat for Humanity for which he established a Harrah's chapter. Or he might be collecting toys to be turned over to the Marines for Toys for Tots. Under Thomas' leadership, the Harrah's security department heads up the Toys for Tots collection, as well as annual food-and coat-drive efforts that benefit local residents.

Also, through the area casino association he founded, he helped to create a scholarship program. "Because Tunica is such a rural area, schools are lacking in some respects. We offer scholarship programs to deserving students who have been identified as needing the money and having the aptitude to go on to higher education."

He has received numerous awards from local schools for his charitable efforts and has been asked to speak at the local high school graduation three times. Thomas and the security department have also participated in the Tunica Bar-B-Que contest and won first place in the casino division three years straight.

The power of knowledge

Thomas contends you can never offer too much professional training and education, which he sees lacking in private security.

"Our philosophy is train, train and re-train, because it will come back to you in savings when you don't have litigation pending against you for unlawful detention or some other ignorant error." He believes that everything that goes wrong is predicated on two words: too late. "Either you're too late to recognize the problem, or you're too late to take action," he says. "Hopefully, with proper education, you won't be too late."

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