The financial services industry is facing another sobering event this week after a shooter took the lives of five people at a SunTrust Bank branch.
Overall almost 800 people have died in 250 active shooter incidents in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
All of this raises questions about credit union security and emergency preparedness beyond the central Florida community where the latest incident happened. Providers of security training are seeing an uptick in interest as institutions examine their security policies and procedures.
“Some credit unions don’t want to acknowledge a need for this [training],” said Bob Bouvier, a risk management consultant at CUNA Mutual Group. “They don’t want to acknowledge that this could occur. Some are sort of burying their heads, for lack of a better term.”
For MidFlorida Credit Union in Lakeland, the incident on Wednesday hit particularly close to home. The credit union temporarily closed two branches in the Sebring area when news of the shooting broke. While its officials didn’t hear anything on Thursday from members concerned about the nearby shooting, the credit union is offering counseling services for staff who are worried about their safety as a result.
“We were concerned because it was a bank branch and it was near two of our offices,” said Kevin Jones, CEO of the $3.2 billion-asset institution. “We want to make sure if anyone has concerns or fears that we are addressing those as quickly as we can.”
Jones said MidFlorida has plans in place for emergencies like this, along with a board committee focused specifically on security, though the institution has not conducted drills for how to respond in an active shooter situation.
“We do have an action plan if there’s a robbery and we’re always concerned if somebody is brandishing a gun or even shoots a gun,” said Jones. “As far as an active-shooting situation, we do have security plans and we do discuss that with staff as far as what to expect in those situations.”
Patrick La Pine, president and CEO of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, which serves CUs in Florida and Alabama, said the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando “was a real wake-up call” for many in the state. That was particularly true for the league, which held its annual convention in Orlando just days later.
The following year LSCU included a breakout session at the conference on how to respond to active shooter situations, and La Pine said there was so much interest that “the room was overflowing with people.” The league repeated the session at its 2018 conference.
“There has been a lot more awareness among credit unions and employers” of active shooter incidents, he said. “This one that happened yesterday at a financial institution is a little different. It didn’t appear to be a robbery or anything like that. I’m sure credit unions and banks are probably looking at that and dusting off – or at least hopefully reviewing – their active shooter training and readiness procedures, and hopefully getting one if they don’t have it in place already.”
Are credit unions ready?
The big question, however, is just how prepared the industry actually is for such a crisis.
Glory LeDu, CEO of LeagueInfoSight, which provides compliance solutions for CUs, said that while the company does have some policies available to credit unions regarding workplace violence, it does not have any for active shooters. She acknowledged that could change in the wake of the SunTrust shooting.
She noted that while CUs of all asset sizes have security training surrounding robberies, it’s harder to say whether many have active shooter policies, which are “a different nuance that may require more in-depth procedures and training than a robbery. I think the smaller shops are getting some kind of training [but] are they getting active shooter training? Maybe not, but I wouldn’t say that for sure.”
CUNA Mutual’s Bouvier said the company regularly receives requests for training on this topic. Since late 2017, he said, the insurance provider has conducted trainings for more than 50 CUs from across the asset spectrum. That has included working with individual credit unions as well as doing group trainings at league meetings and similar functions. CUNA Mutual provides the training free of charge to policyholders.
While robbery training is required at most financial institutions, Bouvier said the same is not yet true for gun violence.
“There’s a big difference between a robbery and an active shooter, even though sometimes it’s the same end result,” Bouvier said. “A robber wants to come in and get money and get out, and it’s over in a matter of minutes. An active shooter is going to come in and – pardon my phrase – take out as many people as they can in a short period of time.”
Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa conducted its own active shooter training just one day before the SunTrust shooing, said Gary Vien, chief administrative officer at the $9.2 billion-asset shop. Senior leadership, vice presidents and the security team are the only ones currently included in the trainings. But Vien said the procedures will eventually be rolled out to all branches. And, he added, all new employees – from frontline staff on up – receive training during orientation. While Suncoast does periodically review these procedures with staff, formal drills are not currently in place.
LSCU’s La Pine doesn’t necessarily believe smaller CUs, which generally have fewer resources than their larger counterparts, face a greater threat from active shooters. One resource for some smaller CUs, he added, is that many credit unions have connections to law enforcement and other groups that can provide free training.
Large institutions “have more resources for training, but they have to be more constant with their training and put more resources in place because they have more locations” and more staff turnover, he noted. “If you have a smaller credit union with one or two branches and less turnover, it’s probably easier to keep those branches and those people informed.”
With well over 5,000 credit unions nationwide, many said it’s nearly impossible to gauge the movement’s overall readiness for active shooter incidents, but the SunTrust shooting could spur additional action.
“Like [the Pulse nightclub shootings], I think this will be a wake-up call for financial institutions that haven’t done this or haven’t had training in a while,” said La Pine. "It’s probably a good time to revisit it again.”
