No, You Can't Shoot Them!
Aug 02, 2023 |
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In the wake of every shooting incident in the United States, a financial institution contacts us with a very simple question, “Should we allow our concealed carry permit staff to be armed? This could protect us against active shooter situations or workplace violence.”
When the bank decides to encourage, or put into writing, that staff are allowed to carry weapons, a variety of problems emerge. The first is, what kind of training has your staff member had to carry a weapon in a crisis? Remember law enforcement must qualify with a gun at least yearly and many departments quarterly. Do you plan to train your staff on shooting qualifications, and who is going to do it? The instructor had better be certified by some qualified agency. If your staff member believes a threatening situation is taking place in the lobby, will they pull a weapon? If they do, and end up shooting an accountholder, who do you think is going to be sued? I not a lawyer, the this one is easy. First the board of directors jointly and individually, and management staff, along with the security officer will all be sued. In states that have adopted open carry laws, your staff will not need concealed carry permits so will everyone be allowed to have a weapon? Again, what training will they have?
If someone gets shot and the case goes to court, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the financial institution implemented an unsafe situation. Expect to be questioned as to whether you knew that arming your staff made for an unsafe workplace. If the attorney is good, imagine how they could turn all the recent domestic violence and workplace shootings into your having knowledge this accident would happen.
You also need to consider your insurance carrier’s position on having armed staff. Before even asking if this is a good idea, is it one the insurance company will cover? If not, when an incident occurs will you be suing the insurance company while protecting the bank against the lawsuits. One bank retained off duty police officers to stop robberies at a particular location. The robber entered the bank and, seeing the police officer, pulled his gun on her. The police officer shot the robber square in the chest, killing him. So, who would sue the bank? The lawsuits came from customers in the lobby, staff working that day, and the family of the robber. Bank management knew that the police officer was armed so someone robbing the facility would likely have shots fired. This means management knew they were creating an unsafe environment inside the branch.
In the early 1900s many banks armed the teller lines and would have them qualify with the local police departments. The banks were so proud of the training, they provided photography to local news media in hopes of reducing robberies. One bank we performed a vulnerability study on in the Midwest actually had a sniper’s nest built above the lobby. During the 1930s they had a person positioned there with a Thompson Submachine Gun. The final questions for you is, how far do you want to go to protect your financial institution?
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