August 3, 2006
Banks ban cell phone use to keep criminals from plotting getaways
The Chicago Heights-based First National Bank is prohibiting the use of cell phone, reports The Chicago Tribune, The ban has been in effect for three years. Its signs read: "For security reasons, please remove hats, sunglasses and discontinue cell phone use."
"We ban cell phone use in the lobby," Senior Vice President Ralph Oster said, "because you don't know what people are doing" on the device. A criminal could be on a phone at a teller window, robbing the bank or passing a bad check, while an accomplice outside would have an eye peeled for police to foil an arrest attempt.
First National is not alone. Mexico City banks began banning cell phones in May to curb robberies. Munster, Ind.-based Citizens Financial Bank, with 22 Indiana and Illinois branches, also began asking customers to silence phones for security. Last year, Citizens Bank of Northern California prohibited cell phones after a bank executive shopping for a camera phone came away impressed, but uneasy, with the technology.
If trends in bank robberies and phone shipments sustain momentum, a security movement now in its infancy could pick up more apostles.
FBI agent Thomas Weber said he hasn't yet seen phones become a common tool in the commission of the crime, "but any precautions banks take that are reasonable are good."
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