I was working in Ocala, Fl. Our security officer made arrangements with the Sheriff's office for a mock robbery. Staff was told it was going to happen, but not when or how.
About a month later at 4pm, after the bank was closed, a nicely dressed, good looking man in a suit knocked on the glass door. He told the employee he only needed copies for a job interview, he begged her to let him come in and make copies so he could get a job. She unlocked the door and two other men came from around the building and all 3 rushed in. They yelled, used vulgar language,threatened them, and called the staff derogatory names,and waved guns.

The "robbers" made everyone lie flat on the floor and told them do not look up. One girl looked and one of the "robbers" put the barrel of his gun onto the side of her head and said " you do that again and you are a dead xxxx".

Although the bank's security division had good intentions of preparing staff in the event of a robbery, it didn't turn out well. Even though staff knew it was going to happen, at the time it did, we weren't sure if it was mock or real. It got too real. Most were terrified. Within the month 3 people had quit.

Wonder if they were sued for mental and emotional distress and damages - that would have quite an impact on your psyche, I would think!

I have arranged for mock robberies and been on the "trained" end of them. Always it was in conjuction with a presentation and the officers told the staff they were about to do a mock robbery. They left the room briefly and then came back in as the robbers. Those were frightening and we KNEW it wasn't real.
What happened to you was completely unacceptable and you will be lucky if those employees who have quit are not talking to attorneys.
I can't imagine the fear they experienced and then were told "just kidding". That just defies rational thought.

It does not sound like this was a very thought out training session. The fact that they used bad language, had guns, etc.... I do not see a problem with (Most robbers are not going to come in and say Ma 'am would you PLEASE pass the money to me and PLEASE help me place it in to this bag) They will either come in silently with a note or come in with guns waved. So that part I do not see any trouble with. It just seems that the planning was not taken care of. For instance, you can use simulated weapons that look just like real weapons, you can have employees sign a waiver, and have employees in on the scenarios and definitely know when and where it will happen. Trust me from experience, they will enjoy and respect the training of a Mock robbery IF and only IF it was planned correctly. I hate that you lost employees over the scenario but........Unfortunately, in this business you never know when a robbery might happen and you want your employees prepared. History dictates that under stress you revert back to your training. So I am a firm believer in Mock robbery scenarios as long as they are under control and the scenaorios are PLANNED.

I think waiting an entire month was not smart at all..that's plenty of time to have forgotten about it, IMHO.

We had one years ago done by our security trainer, at that time, who was ex-FBI. It was right before I came to work here and from what I heard...the employees were prepared, knew when it would be, and we still had one employee that nearly had a heart attack as a result.

To truly not know it was the mock robbery, I think was thoughtless.

Folks,

Several gurus have addressed this topic in detail. Please search the threads for "mock robbery" for many more examples and opinions . . .