Robbery Procedures: Staff Personnel

by Dana Turner, BOL Guru
Guru Bio

1. PURPOSE: The purpose of this section is to define and describe acceptable staff procedures for preventing or responding to a robbery, to avoid confusion and to assign responsibility for the performance of necessary tasks.
   
   
2. POLICY: It is the institution's policy that all employees will take extraordinary measures to ensure their own safety and the safety of other persons who may become involved in a robbery event, including:
   
   • Recognize that robbery is primarily a business crime;
   • Care for their own safety first, before considering others' safety;
   • Offer no resistance to the robber, if it's possible;
   • Comply with the robbery's demands, if it's possible;
   • Facilitate the robber's successful completion of the robbery, if it's possible; and
   • Remember that, if the business crime of robbery becomes the personal crime of assault, that he/she does not lose the right to self-defense.
3. Staff employees are responsible for taking preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of a robbery, including:
   • Constantly remaining aware of their surroundings and their geographic location;
   • Carefully following facility entry and exit safety measures;
   • Remaining aware of other vehicular and pedestrian traffic while driving;
   • Observing, acting upon and reporting any unusual incidents and behavior;
   • Knowing what to do during a robbery, including:
     • Knowing procedures to follow during emergency responses;
     • Studying procedures;
     • Reviewing suspect description and reporting forms; and
     • Knowing the locations and capabilities of security devices;
   • Practicing safe cash-handling and transfer operations;
   • Not discussing personal and business issues with non-employees, including:
     • Institution and employee information;
     • Physical layout of the office;
     • Personal matters;
     • Details of cash- and document-handling procedures;
     • Transportation route information; and
     • Security procedures.
4. Staff employees are responsible for taking appropriate measures to protect themselves and to assist a law enforcement agency during a robbery, including:
   • Staying calm and obeying the suspect's orders exactly, repeating the orders back to the suspect before acting, if it's possible;
   • Dialoging with the suspect and asking permission to act before complying, if it's possible;
   • Doing exactly what the offender commands, including:
     • Repeating the commands back to the offender, if it's possible;
     • Telling the offender, "I'll do exactly what you tell me to do";
     • Not making any comments that threaten the offender;
     • Attempting to develop rapport with the offender by developing a "relationship";
     • Agreeing to do whatever the offender commands;
     • Promising not to call the police;
     • Remaining as the offender's contact person for the duration of the incident, if it's practical;
   • Keeping his/her hands in plain view and avoiding rapid movements or actions that may be misinterpreted;
   • Activating any alarms or cameras only when it is safe to do so;
   • Being observant concerning the physical details of the suspect;
   • Keeping any notes or other items received from or left behind by the suspect, and remembering which areas of the facility were touched by the suspect, if it's possible;
   • Observing the suspect's direction of travel, number of accomplices and their descriptions, and any other pertinent information; and
   • Remembering that no employee is to act in any way that might endanger his/her safety, or the safety of another person, including attempting to go to the aid of another employee being robbed.
5. Staff employees are responsible for continuing to take appropriate and timely measures to protect themselves and to assist a law enforcement agency after a robbery, including:
   • Abandoning the facility and moving to a safe location, if it's necessary;
   • Activating the alarm and camera again and contacting the local law enforcement agency by a cellular or a landline telephone, giving the agency all necessary information;
   • Contacting the Unit Security Officer by a cellular or a landline telephone, giving him/her all necessary information;
   • Following the instructions received from the Unit Security Officer, any on-site supervisor or a representative of the responsible law enforcement agency;
   • Completing reports and forms as it's appropriate; and
   • Referring all requests for interviews by the media to the law enforcement agency or the Security Director.

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Read about Robbery Procedures for Management Personnel

First published on BankersOnline.com 3/26/01

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