Robbery Training Requirements

Question: I know we are required to have Robbery training once a year. Is that calendar year? Or is it every 12 months? We want to change our month for robbery training from June to September, and we had our last full robbery training last June.

Answer: The actual wording of the Bank Protection Act Regulation says the financial institution must do: "... periodic training of officers and employees in their responsibilities under the security program and in proper employee conduct during and after a burglary, robbery, or larceny;..." It doesn't say annually. Nor does it specify every 12 months or every calendar year. Security directors have always placed an industry standard of "...at least annually" on the training, though some do it much more frequently. If you are concerned about the length of time between full training, you might want to do an interim refresher session, even if only in the branches at a branch meeting. For your own protection, have a record kept of all who attended the refresher sessions and a memo on what was discussed and have it sent to you for your files. And of course if there is any robbery activity anywhere in the vicinity of one of your facilities, run a special training class immediately.

Copyright © 2005 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 15, No. 5, 6/05