I have put armed officers in bank and credit union branches across southeast Michigan since 2001. Most of the problems I get called in to fix were not caused by a robbery or similar situation. They were caused by a decision made in a conference room months earlier, usually by someone who had never stood a post or understood what physical security means. These are the five mistakes I see most often.
1. Staffing the lobby and ignoring the parking lot
Branch trouble starts outside more often than inside. The ATM vestibule at 6 a.m. The drive-up lane at dusk. Tellers walking to their cars after close with the day still on their minds. An officer parked at a desk by the front door sees none of that.
Post orders should put your officer outside at opening and closing and on a walking loop through the day. If your officer never leaves the lobby, you bought a greeter with a sidearm. Similar to place of worship incidents, most financial institution incidents could be avoided if a criminal sees that security is present before even entering the building.
2. Turning the officer into member service staff
Branches ask officers to hand out suckers, walk members to the safe deposit boxes, and cover the door while the manager takes a call. Some of that is fine. It builds rapport with members and it keeps the officer moving. But armed officers are not and should not be ambassadors.
The problem starts when the officer becomes staff. Robbers scout branches before they hit them. An officer who is seated, chatting, and looking at a phone reads as no officer at all. Your officer should be visible, alert, and hard to predict. That is the whole deterrent.
3. Assuming armed means trained
The State of Michigan licenses the security company. It does not sit down with the officer standing in your lobby and test him on when to draw and when to keep his hand off the weapon with forty members in the room.
That training is the provider’s job, and it varies more than you would expect. Ask what your provider requires beyond the state minimum. How often do officers qualify on the range? Who trains them on use of force inside a crowded branch? Is that training documented, and can you see the records for the officer assigned to you? If the answers are vague, the training is too.
4. Buying coverage hours instead of a response plan
Every branch has a robbery procedure for tellers. Very few have one that includes the armed officer. Where does he stand during a takeover? Does he engage or observe and report? Who calls dispatch, and who calls police? What happens if the incident is in the drive-up and he is inside?
We write those answers into the post orders before the first shift and we walk them with the branch manager on site. If your provider handed you a schedule and a rate sheet and nothing else, you have hours on a timesheet. You do not have security.
5. Letting supervision fade after the first month
Every officer is sharp in week one. The question is month six. By then the branch staff know him, nobody is checking, and small habits settle in. Ask your provider when a supervisor last visited your branch unannounced. If they have to look it up, the answer is too long ago.
At Alimar, supervisors check armed posts in person and I read the reports myself. That is the advantage of a company where the owner is in the building, not in another state.
About Alimar Security
Alimar Security is a family-owned, Michigan-licensed security company based in Warren. We have provided armed and unarmed officers, mobile patrol, and alarm response to banks, credit unions, and businesses across Metro Detroit since 2001, and we are a member of the Michigan Association of Security and Investigative Professionals. Our dispatch line is staffed 24 hours a day at (586) 755-3847. You can also reach us at info@alimarsecurity.com or through our services page at alimarsecurity.com/services.