Robbery Suppression & Apprehension -- The SAFECATCH Strategy

Presented by:
Dana Turner

This CD ROM will be available after December 22, 2009.

The institution's Security Director is responsible for developing and managing the institution's Security Program -- and the Security Program must contain policies, procedures and a training program that addresses robberies. The number of robberies rhythmically increases and decreases in every region of the country -- after all, robbery is a business crime that's subject to business cycles. Traditional robbery training has neither reduced the number of robbers nor reduced the number of robberies in any significant way. The need for a more effective robbery training program has remained unfulfilled, however. Until now.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has developed and promotes the SAFECATCH Bank Robbery Suppression & Apprehension Program, a robbery prevention and response program that is designed to reduce both the number of robberies and the number of robberies each offender may commit. Incorporating the same safety procedures as traditional robbery training programs, SAFECATCH also suggests several enhanced practices that have been shown to make robbers leave the institution before committing the robbery -- while enhancing law enforcement's ability to apprehend both successful and unsuccessful robbers. All this without contributing to events that would cause injuries to employees and customers. When developing this program, the Seattle Office of the FBI researched bank robberies from 1996 through 2006 where an act of violence occurred -- including assaults, hostage situations or a person's death. Research did not reveal any situation or circumstances where a robber entered the bank posing as a customer, was then treated like a customer and the robber subjected that employee to violence. And there are no reported instances since that research was conducted.

SAFECATCH is widely available to all law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. There is no confrontation aspect within the SAFECATCH program. The strategies suggested accomplish one of two things: they either demonstrate excellent customer service that opens the door to build a business relationship -- or they provide a potential bank robber with a moment of pause and an excuse to leave the bank unobstructed, thus preventing a robbery. SAFECATCH is a two-pronged bank robbery suppression program. The "SAFE" prong is a preventive measure and the "CATCH" prong safely partners bank employees with law enforcement agencies. Together, they bring a modernized and comprehensive plan to the financial services industry that creates an environment that safely empowers employees to make a positive difference regarding robberies.

This presentation provides a logical and strategic model that's designed to help the institution's Security Officer and all of the institution's employees to develop and manage an improved robbery suppression environment. By understanding the cause and effect relationships between the institution's security devices, policies and procedures and training programs, managers and executives may also better support the Security Officer in designing and implementing a standardized, institution-wide robbery prevention and response process. This presentation is designed as a "turnkey" solution to required robbery training -- a "baseline" solution that may be used to train every employee group within the institution.

Presentation Topics

Brief history of SAFECATCH, including statistics

The acronyms SAFE and CATCH and how to use them, including:

• Scan
• Alert
• Friendly
• Exit
• Call
• Action
• Tactical
• Cash
• Help

Special considerations

Summary

Presentation Objectives

This presentation is designed to help you:

Conduct an initial and continuing robbery risk assessment

Determine if your traditional robbery training program is appropriate and effective

Determine the most effective types of training

Identify employee classifications that should receive different levels of training, including executives and board members

Identify policies, procedures and training techniques that should be retained, modified or eliminated

Make recommendations that will likely enhance employee and customer safety

Gain the necessary support from your board of directors, other department managers and staff

Prepare the tools that both the institution and the trainer may use to defend themselves in the event of a legal action

Presentation Audience

Security Officers

Directors

Auditors

Human Resources Managers

Training Managers

Compliance Officers

Retail Operations Managers

Facilities Managers

Presentation Tools

FBI's SAFECATCH training materials, including:

Study results (Word document)

Financial institution strategic security partnership plan (Excel spreadsheet)

Training workbook (Word document)

PowerPoint slide presentation (PowerPoint document)

Learning-To-Go leader's guide

About the speaker:
Dana Turner
Dana Turner is a security practitioner based in Pipe Creek, Texas. Dana has served as a law enforcement officer in several capacities -- including the investigation of business and banking crimes -- and he is celebrating his 34th year in crime.

As a speaker and conference facilitator, Dana has delivered thousands of platform, telephone and Internet presentations. He has designed and participated in continuing education programs offered by state and national banking and credit union associations, state and federal examining and law enforcement agencies -- and state and national security, audit and human resources organizations.

As a consultant, Dana has participated in or led hundreds of projects and assisted in the development and delivery of components of seminars, schools and conferences. As a writer, Dana has written many manuals and books -- and numerous newspaper, trade publication and magazine articles published and distributed both nationally and internationally. Dana is the author of the Financial Institution Security Library and he also serves as one of the moderators in BankersOnline.com's Security Forum.

CD-ROM includes: