Bank Employs New Security Tactics

Aug 14, 2007 3:32 PM

Once inside First Mutual Bank's main branch in Bellevue, Wash., people might wonder where the windows are.

Tellers work behind stands, or "pods," like cashiers at a store. They're at the back of a brightly lit lobby, which features a comfortable seating area and an employee who greets anyone entering to cash or deposit a check.

Typically stuffy bank interiors are moving over for more customer-friendly, retail-style designs that banks are increasingly adopting to draw new business.

But while banks say it seems to work, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the FBI likes the concept for another reason: The average bank robber avoids friendly service.

So the FBI is now urging banks to adopt the new design as a strategy to thwart bandits. It's part of an effort to change the philosophy of an industry that often thinks of security in terms of guards or bulletproof windows.

"When a bank robber first enters the bank, he might look around a bit and he might not have made up his mind whether he's going to rob it," Special Agent Larry Carr told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He coordinates bank robbery investigations in Washington. "He wants to come inside the bank and be anonymous, but he can only be anonymous if we in the bank allow him. If we take that away, we strip away the whole foundation of his plan."

Last year, the FBI began a new robbery prevention program called "Safecatch," which trains bank employees how to greet suspicious people, offer them help and ask for identification. To legitimate customers, it seems welcoming. To most bandits, it induces paranoia that often causes them to back out, Carr says, who developed the program.

The Safecatch approach, which reverses years of security practices in which employees were taught to do nothing except be good witnesses, goes hand in hand with the new movement in banking architecture, Carr says.

Already, Safecatch appears to be paying off, as bank robberies in Washington are down 40 percent from a 10-year average since Carr began training sessions last year. Twenty-five banks have signed on for training, including Bank of America, which has seen robberies drop 74 percent from a 17-year average, Carr told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Other aspects of the retail concept also beef up security. Some banks are adding a concierge, who would get the first chance to charm away a robber. Also, a more open floor plan allows better placement of marketing materials and other services, which allow employees to better scan for potential bandits.

Carr also advises banks to call 911 before hitting the robbery alarm. Alarms typically signal a call center out of state, which first calls the bank to confirm the robbery before notifying police. That five-minute delay is enough time for a bandit to get away, Carr says.

The customer service approach isn't meant for takeover-style robberies in which the bandits are armed. Most robbers want to slip in unnoticed and pass a threatening note. Most never brandish guns because they know they could serve at least another five years in prison for using a gun and are likely to get flustered and flee if a teller just walked away, Carr says.

Since implementing the Safecatch strategies, First Mutual has reported one robbery in two years and three attempts that were interrupted, according to the FBI.

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