A spring bank robbery in Falcon bolsters the perception that small communities are not immune to what is sometimes viewed as big city crime.The State Bank at 7495 McLaughlin Road had only been open four weeks when a robber entered the establishment June 19 and demanded money from a teller. Because the bank had been open for a short time, Al Kreps, The State Bank senior vice president, said that some security measures had not been implemented.Although the robber has not yet been identified, cameras showed the robber walking into the bank, Kreps said. The robber gave the teller a note that read, “I have a gun, be careful,” with instructions to put $20 bills into a bag.Kreps said authorities have not received any leads on the identification of the robber, even though 16 cameras placed inside the bank caught the robber on video. Both the El Paso County sheriff’s department and the FBI are investigating the case.”The teller did exactly right – answered the request, let the person walk out and activated the alarms, which alerted a central monitoring agency and the sheriff’s department,” Kreps said.The bank’s procedure after a robbery is to lock the doors and immediately isolate the tellers. Kreps said isolating the bank tellers is important, so no one influences the individual teller’s perception of the crime.Additional measures of security that will be added are an exterior camera to monitor cars outside the bank and height definers, another form of surveillance.Working in the banking industry since 1952, Kreps said this is the first time a bank he has been robbed where he has worked.”Most robbers do not get very much for their risk,” Kreps said. There is not a significant amount of money allowed in the teller area at the State Bank. A bulk of the money is secured under time lock, he said. “The risk of a big heist is minimal.”To be safe, though, he said several types of insurance cover the bank. One company is Travelers.Mark Horton, Travelers second vice president and director of community banks, said banks are required by law to have financial institution bond coverage and worker’s compensation. He said prudent business corporations should also carry property and casualty insurance and director and officer’s liability to cover assets.Banks typically utilize loss control prevention measures to reduce the amount of money that is stolen during a robbery. Dispersing cash throughout the bank and limiting the amount of cash at the teller station are examples of loss prevention measures. “Don’t have all your eggs in one basket,” Horton said.The insurance company applies a loss prevention rating to banks, he said. Although an insurance premium is not discounted due to the amount of loss prevention measures a bank implements, more security tends to reduce the amount of loss. This diminished loss results in a better insurance premium, Horton added.He also said the average robbery lasts two minutes; bank robbers tend to go directly to the teller, not the bank vault where the majority of cash is kept. “More sophisticated robberies go straight to the vault,” Horton said.Travelers provides reward posters and a $10,000 reward for information that leads authorities to the apprehension of a bank robber.When it comes to complying with a robber’s demands, he said, “Your life is more important than the cash. Life is irreplaceable.”
