A signalling system connected to a nearby police station can be very effective.
ISLAMABAD: Bank dacoities in Pakistan, especially in Karachi, have become a matter of common occurrence over the past few years. The police and managements of banks seem to be clueless about how to cope with this problem, resulting in losses of millions of rupees each time. The criminals conduct a survey of the bank secretly and execute their plan fearlessly. Either they carry out their ‘operation’ with the connivance of the security guard of the bank or they capture him, in the first instance, so as to remove the first ‘line of resistance.
I would suggest that the banks may deploy one or two armed and trained persons in plain clothes near their branches who can take positions and offer some resistance against the criminals. Even firing warning shots or using an alarm could cause considerable panic among the perpetrators of such crimes as soon as they enter the premises. In addition, hidden push buttons for raising alarms and a signalling system connected to a nearby police station could also be very effective: similar devices have been successful in security management in developed countries. Some other out-of-the-box methods could also be explored by experts instead of banks acting like sitting ducks.
Dr Najeeb A Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2013.
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