Security companies keep mum when bandits seize weapons, but react when police do the same

Following spike in robberies, police have started inspecting bank security measures.

KARACHI: Though CCTV footage of bank robberies has shown that snatching weapons from security guards can be almost as easy as stealing candy from a baby, the police have found out that this is always not the case.

When law enforcers inspected banks’ security measures and seized weapons from about a dozen guards, the backlash from security companies was instantaneous.

At least 17 banks in Karachi have been robbed this year, raising concerns about how adept security guards really are at using weapons and thwarting robbers. When law enforcers scrutinised footage from the incidents, they discovered that the guards’ attempts to foil bandits had been half-hearted at best. Nowhere is the ineptness more evident than a foiled bank robbery on October 8: when bandits arrived at a Habib Metropolitan Bank branch in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, the guard scurried off inside the building, leaving the policeman posted outside to fend them off by himself.

The same day, the police decided to inspect all private banks and money changers. The first stage of the inspection programme is already in progress. Area police, in collaboration with special branches, inspected about 14 banks in New Karachi Industrial Area.

While talking to The Express Tribune, SP Salman Hussain said: “We are doing this to stop more bank robberies from happening. Unfortunately, most of the banks we have visited are not following the standard operating procedure.” This includes having two security guards at each branch - one manning the door and the other keeping watch from a bunker nearby.

SP Hussain said that the weapons seized from guards posted at 12 banks were “useless”. Most of them didn’t even know how weapons were supposed to be handled.

Inspection reports have been sent to the higher-ups and later they will be sent to security companies as well. The seized weapons will also be sent to the forensic division, said the police officer. After  inspection is completed, police teams will visit guards’ homes to confirm their addresses and gather information from their neighbours.

The police has advised security companies to scrutinise the backgrounds of people seeking jobs, so that they wouldn’t inadvertently end up hiring criminals.

Around 50,000 security guards have been employed by 247 private security companies in Sindh. About 40 of them are in Karachi and employ 20,000 guards. A guard is paid a monthly salary of  Rs8,000. When the police’s forensic division sifted through 15,00 records, they discovered that 15 security guards had been accused of criminal activities in the past.

Backlash

The move to inspect the banks did not sit well with the All Pakistan Security Agencies Association. Its general secretary, Col (retd) Tauqirul Islam, castigated the inspections.

“We have written to the government and the police high-ups, telling them that this is illegal,” he told The Express Tribune. “They’ve taken away weapons and now if the banks get robbed, it will be the police’s fault.”

He said that association does not oppose the scrutiny of security guards’ records - in fact, it welcomes this particular step. “They should have talked to the security companies before seizing the weapons. They should have also replaced the faulty guns.”

The general secretary added that even if the weapons were defective, they would have nonetheless deterred bandits, who had no clue about their quality. The association has decided to meet government and police officials to discuss the matter in the coming days.

One of the security guards, from whom the police seized the weapon, lamented the salary. “You can’t expect to hire a professional shooter for Rs8,000. Give us good weapons and a pay raise and then see if anybody robs a bank.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.