Realistic Training Helps Bank Tellers Aid Detectives

Two gunmen bolted into the credit union, brandishing weapons. A masked robber pointed a shotgun at bystanders.

“Don’t you look at me!” he screamed at citizens.

The other gunman threw a bag at a teller and demanded she fill it up with cash. Seconds later, he yelled to his co-hort, “I got it, let’s go!”

Both gunmen ran out of the credit union, only seconds after they had entered.

But then the two robbers calmly re-entered the financial institution, took off their disguises and began to take questions from the tellers in attendance. 

(Photo) Pasco Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives Alan Proctor and Matthew Myers get into their role as mock bank robbers during training for bank tellers.

The “robbers” were in fact Pasco Sheriff’s Office detectives from the Major Crimes Unit that investigate such bank robberies.  This mock robbery was an illustration of just how fast, how violent, and how unpredictable these robberies can be.  All of these factors can understandably fluster the tellers and cause them to give conflicting descriptions as to what the robbers were wearing, what their actions and mannerisms were, which direction they fled and by what means of travel.  Of course, this is all vital information to detectives investigating the crime.

This training is part of a continuing partnership between Pasco law enforcement agencies and area financial institutions. Dubbed the Financial Institution Security Coalition of Pasco County, the group has been meeting for about 21 months.  Credit union, banks, and savings and loans all send personnel to attend the meetings in an effort to remain up-to-date on the latest types of frauds, scams, and other economic crimes that both law enforcement and financial institutions see on a regular basis.

“A lot of the time, the main thing that a teller will remember is the size of the gun that is pointed at them,” said Sgt. James Sessa, a supervisor in the Major Crimes Unit and the coalition director.  “The purpose of this training is to familiarize the tellers with what can happen with the many different scenarios that can occur during a bank robbery.”

According to Sessa, this type of training is important, as most people will revert to their training when faced with a stressful situation, whether it is law enforcement officers, military personnel, or ever bank tellers.

That sentiment is echoed by Kathy Long, who has 23 years experience in the banking industry and works for GTE Federal Credit Union in Pasco County.  She is also a co-chair of the coalition.

“This training helped our tellers feel more comfortable in their job,” she said.  “The more you know, the better off you are.”

The tellers viewed different mock robbery scenarios, from the least-common violent robbery incident, to the most common, the quiet note-passer.  But robbery is only one type of crime that the group learns about.

“We’ve had an FBI agent speak to our group and we have a member of the Post Office scheduled next,” Long stated.  Both of these organizations can provide valuable information about recent scams and frauds that are being seen from around the country.

One recent fraud that they are seeing involves fake payroll checks. The first is from people who are conned into believing that they have been hired as mystery shoppers. When they receive what they believe is a paycheck, they are asked to deposit it into their account and return a portion of the money to a location out of the country.  Of course by the time the paycheck is determined to be fake, the account holder is out of the cash that they forwarded.  The other payroll check fraud can be traced to the ease by which today’s computers can create realistic-looking payroll checks that are fake.  Long says that holds are now being placed on payroll checks, which is something that institutions never had to do before.

“We are even seeing fake cashier’s checks that with a quick glance look real, but with a closer inspection have revealing details that indicate that they are counterfeit,” she said.

Banks and financial institutions are reviewing and in some cases changing their policies due to the information that they are receiving from the coalition.  Recent changes include signs at the entrance to financial institutions that require all customers to remove their hats, sunglasses and hoods.  An increased high-resolution video presence throughout both the interior and exterior of banks can aid law enforcement in the case a bank is robbed.  In the past, too often many photos from the banks were poor or located at an angle that did not give a good view of the suspect’s face.

“Attendance is growing at our meetings,” Long said.  “Anyone is this business knows that fraud is never ending and we have to work with law enforcement to protect ourselves and our customers.”