Mock Robbery Practice proves less than perfect

The descriptions of Detective Lawrence Zapata covered a range that spanned about six inches and 100 pounds. It’s a good thing he wasn’t a real bank robber.

Zapata, of the Vancouver Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit, played the part Friday during a robbery simulation at a branch of Lacamas Community Credit Union.

Other facts about Zapata missed by the nervous actors in the early-morning rehearsal: He’s Hispanic, not Caucasian; he was wearing tan slacks, not blue jeans.

“You’re the best tool that we have,” Sgt. Scott Creager told the staff during a debrief that followed the 10-minute simulation.

Creager, who oversaw the mock robbery, said, in general, the descriptions of a disguised Zapata were “pretty good.”

He and Zapata encouraged employees during a discussion after the mock robbery to pay more attention to physical features than clothes; to look for distinguishing characteristics like tattoos and scars.

“The odds are, when I get to a suspect, they’re not going to be wearing the same clothes,” Zapata said.

About 20 Lacamas employees attended the training at the Sifton-area branch, 15705 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd. The three-act simulation lasted about an hour, including a briefing, 10-minute mock robbery, and summation.

When the curtains opened on the robbery, three employees and Zapata played customers. One was chatty, another upset about a misquoted loan and the third in a hurry to make her transaction and leave for work.

Then there was Zapata. He wore a black stocking cap, dark-rimmed glasses, a black jacket, tan slacks and black shoes. When he approached an available teller, he slipped her a note. He didn’t yell, display a weapon or force anyone to the ground.

“Most of the robberies we see happen, happen just like the one this morning,” Creager explained afterward.

After an in-character Zapata left with money tucked in a small envelope, a supervisor locked the front door. A member still inside the building was calmed by a personal banker. The teller whose till was emptied called 911 and spoke to an actual dispatcher.

“We put you on the hot seat and you did really well,” Creager told the teller. The credit union asked The Columbian not to identify employees who participated in the training.

One participant in the role play conceded afterward, “I knew it wasn’t real, but I still started shaking, I don’t know why.”

Bank robberies in the area have picked up over the last 18 months, Zapata said.

Creager added that on average there are a couple of bank robberies a month in Vancouver and another somewhere in the county. In fact, the Andresen neighborhood branch of Chase Bank was robbed by a note-wielding robber Friday afternoon.

Creager encouraged employees to prepare for a possible robbery by thinking about the area in which their branch is located and how a robber might get to and from the bank.

He said a description of a fleeing suspect’s vehicle and direction of travel are especially helpful.

“If you tell us it was a red Jeep — bingo,” Creager said. “We’re going to find the red Jeep.”

Creager lauded the credit union’s policy that prohibits members from wearing hats, sunglasses or hoods on the premises. He encouraged employees to strictly enforce it.

Zapata and another customer in the role play were not asked to take their hats off. Creager noted that that limited the effectiveness of the cameras that line the wall behind the tellers.

The police department has coordinated mock robberies to help train bankers for about 10 years. Creager said he’s personally been involved in about 50 simulations.

“We really buy into the philosophy of this,” he said.