Not All Banking News Is Bad!

By A.H. "Buck" Shuller, CFE, LPI

Recently in a bank close by, a bank employee had her 18-month-old son in the office while she finished up what she had to do for the day. He was playing hide-and-seek. Unfortunately, he had found a really good place to hide when the bank vault was closed at 6 p.m. and the time lock set. He was inside the vault.

Thankfully, the vault was equipped with CCTV, so bank and rescue personnel were able to keep watch over the little boy during the seven hours he was trapped inside. And the fire company, thinking quickly, started pumping oxygen through a hole, sang songs to him to keep him calm, and even fed him juice through a tube before he went to sleep while waiting to be freed.

The locksmith, who had to fly in from another state, arrived about one a.m. and opened the vault, thus supplying a happy ending to this story.

But there were lessons to be learned from this incident. One is the importance of CCTV in the vault. We normally think to have it so we have a video record of customers and employees who enter the vault, providing us with invaluable information during investigations of mysterious vault losses, or claims in the safe deposit area.

Another is the importance of the press, and what we share with them. The news media that covered this story emphasized the fact that "...once the time lock is set, the vault cannot be opened again by a bank employee until the set time is reached." Crooks read newspapers, too. Who knows how many morning glory robberies were discouraged by this article?

Recommendations
We recommend periodic testing of vault ventilation systems. And also that a phone and a battery powered emergency light be located in the vault along with a flashlight and extra batteries, bottled water, candy bars, a First Aid Kit, a screw driver (both regular and Philips head), a pair of pliers, a crescent wrench, and if there is room, a blanket.

This is the third "locked inside a vault" incident in less than a year. Security officers need to be aware of the dangers of people being locked in the vault as well as the success of keeping crooks locked out.

Buck is a former bank security officer who now does security consulting and training in the Central Pennsylvania region. He can be reached at TheShullerGroup@aol.com

Copyright © 2002 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 12, No. 6, 7/02