Ulster Bank Group
Targetting of bank staff in tiger kidnapping unacceptable
Issued : 23 June 2010
Responding to media comments following yesterday's bank kidnapping, IBOA General Secretary, Larry Broderick, has urged commentators to refrain from apportioning blame for the latest incident in Crumlin until a thorough investigation of all the circumstances has been completed.
"It has been suggested that, because the gang managed to get away with the cash on this occasion, there was a failure of the internal procedures for dealing with these situations," he said. "The inference being drawn in some quarters is that this failure was down to the individual victim who, it is claimed, should have alerted the authorities while the kidnapping was in progress.
"Whatever about other procedures that may be in place to flag abnormal withdrawals of cash in bank branches, it is intolerable that a bank official under threat to his or her own life or those of loved ones or friends should also now be expected to take risks with their safety.
"For some, it seems, it is not enough that bank officials should live in a state of near paranoia - trying to vary their daily routes to and from work in case they are under surveillance and wondering every time there is a knock at the door in the evening if they could be facing a gun when they open it.
"Even in the most traumatic circumstances, bank officials endeavour to act responsibly and in line with established procedures. However, since few of us ever have to deal with situations where our families or colleagues are held at gunpoint, I think it is presumptious to jump to conclusions about supposed staff failures before a thorough investigation of all of the circumstances has been completed.
"Considering that senior executives in the banks managed to lose billions for nothing more than greed, it is a bit rich to criticise ordinary bank staff for handing over thousands under extreme duress when their lives and those of others are directly threatened by armed criminals.
"Apart from a review of the operation of internal procedures in this particular case, I believe that other pertinent questions should also be asked such as why it is still deemed necessary to hold such large volumes of cash in branch offices and why banks are still loath to make proper provision for the personal protection of their staff in their homes as well as in the workplace."
"For our part IBOA is contacting the retail banks and the Garda authorities for an urgent review of all aspects of security in order to ensure that our members' safety receives the highest priority," he concluded.
