Security guards deployed at banks are not alert or trained in stopping robbers.
KARACHI: This is with reference to a report in your newspaper which said that Rs9.6 million had been stolen from a bank in Karachi and that this was the third such robbery in two weeks.
Clearly, this shows that security guards deployed at banks are not alert or trained in stopping robbers. By and large, guards of private security companies hired by banks are ill-trained and have no idea how to perform their duties. To make matters worse, the bank staff use them for work that should be done by clerks or peons. I have seen guards serving tea and even taking files or other documents from one desk to another. Those who can read and write are sometimes even given clerical work.
Also, some bank staff fraternise with the guards and this diverts the latter’s attention from their security duties. I have spoken to some bank managers and asked them to formulate standing orders for their bank’s security which all subordinate staff should be asked to follow. And the reply I usually get is that this is too much work and, in any case, the cash and other valuables of the bank are insured.
At the very least, the State Bank should direct all insurance companies not to provide insurance coverage to any bank unless a comprehensive security plan is put in place and followed. This would be in the interest of the insurance companies themselves.
In this, one should also note that very few robberies take place in local branches of foreign banks. This is because they adhere to their security plan and follow it in letter and spirit.
Sqn-Ldr (retd) S Ausaf Husain
Published in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2011.
