Bank teller fired after chasing down robber

[Smallpotatoes]

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20090802/US.ODD.Robbery.Teller/

Was he stupid or heroic?
I probably wouldn't have done it, but then again, maybe I'm a *****.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Ziskie rates Smallpotatoes: "He's a *****!"

 

[Ace]

I don't blame them for firing the guy. You don't demand that the guy show a weapon. You are putting other people at risk.

 

[Boom_70]

Stupid - I'd fire him for stupidity.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Heroic, but stupid. I understand why law enforcement officials are downplaying the guy catching the would-be thief, because they know that this time, the teller got lucky.

He could have been wrong about the guy's lack of a gun. He could have been killed. He could have gotten others killed.

But . . . he wasn't. He needs to capitalize on this "hero" status now, while he can.

 

[RickStain]

Nicholson said he has run after shoplifters while working at other retail jobs.

"It's something I almost look forward to. It's a thrill and I'm an adrenaline-junkie person. It's the pursuit," he said.

Stupid.

 

[micropolitan guy]

He should have no trouble being hired by another bank. It would be a PR coup.

 

[PeteyPirate]

Bank tellers have a process they are required to follow. They are told that if they do not follow it in the event of a robbery, they are subject to repercussions. A teller I know was in a robbery late last year. She handed over the money without the dyepack at the request of the robber. He got away and to my knowledge hasn't been caught. She got a $250 reward out of it for doing her job well.

 

[Dirk Legume]

When I was 17 I worked in a video arcade (cause I was that cool). The place had a model T that the boss would park out front with magnetic signs on it. One afternoon, I looked out the window and saw a kid (15, 16) take the sign off the car. I ran out and took off after him. I took about two blocks but I caught him and made him return the sign. The boss told me not to do it again because the sign wasn't worth it. Acouple of weeks later, I got a raise

Today, I would never chase after anyone in a similar situation. Not only do I not know if they have a weapon, but 17 year old me weighed 160...45 year old me weighs 280.

If I don't catch him at the car, I don't catch him.

 

[Football_Bat]

A teller I know was in a robbery late last year. She handed over the money without the dyepack at the request of the robber. He got away.

Not a well-designed crime prevention technique.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Her boss kept a Sauron's eye on her

 

[deskslave]

I have no problem with the teller being fired. Here's why: Say the bank lauds him as a hero. Maybe gives him a reward. Maybe looks on him more favorably for a promotion. Now, the next time the bank gets robbed, it's a different teller, who now has to think about how she is going to look to the bosses if she doesn't take off after the robber.

The policy exists for a reason. It's to keep the teller, and other innocent bystanders, from getting hurt. It's not worth someone's life to reclaim a few thousand dollars that's more than likely going to be recovered anyway. Hand the money over, push the silent alarm, lock the doors and let the cops do their job.

 

[mustangj17]

Good for him. That's the kind of guy I'd want working for me if I owned a bank.

 

[Boom_70]

Not a good few weeks for "do gooders" First the lady in Cambridge who called the police gets branded a racist and now this.

Makes you want to walk away of you come upon a crime taking place.

 

[Batman]

It's a shame they fired the guy. But like others have said, those policies exist for a reason. If your mind is together enough to chase the guy down, it's together enough to follow the instructions, study the guy's features as closely as possible and not get others hurt or killed.
Reminds me of an old "Dragnet" episode where Friday and Gannon are interviewing police recruits. One guy is borderline because he was fired following a robbery at the oil change place he worked at. Turns out he was fired because, while the owner had a gun in his face, this guy hid in the pit. Thanks to the description he gave the police, though, the robber was caught in short order. Friday OKd him for the police force.
Just a TV show, sure. Yet we can learn so much from it.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Good for him. That's the kind of guy I'd want working for me if I owned a bank.

One that could get himself and others hurt or killed?

 

[Smallpotatoes]

How Vernon Forrest got killed last week is another example of what could go wrong. After getting robbed, he chased after the robbers and shot at them. Then he got shot himself.
You can always replace a wallet and what's in it. But once you're gone, you're gone.
I've told this story before, but here goes. My senior year in high school, I applied for a job at a local convenience store. One of my friends tried to tell me I wasn't cut out for the job. He asked me what I'd do if somebody robbed the store. Before I could answer, in a mocking tone he said I'd probably just give him then money. He then said he'd either shoot the guy who beat him up with whatever martial arts skills he had.
Of course I'd give him the money. Company policy probably would have required it and I'd like to think my life is worth more than whatever's in the register. If that makes me a *****, so be it. But I'm a ***** who gets to go home at the end of the shift.

 

[cyclingwriter]

He may be out of the job, but he might get hired elsewhere. I 've read stories over the decades of this is how FBI hire.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

Further evidence of the pussification of America. There was a time where this guy would have been promoted.

100 times out of 100, if some dirt bag crackhead says "I've got a gun" then that means he doesn't. If a robber actually has a gun, then he's gonna have it out from the get go and that is a totally different situation.

We had an incident a couple of weeks ago where some drug addict ****er tried to rob a pharmacy. He actually had a gun, but the lady behind the counter had one, too, and she plugged him. He screamed, "You crazy *****, you actually shot me" and ran outside. The cops got him laying in the parking lot.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Further evidence of the pussification of America. There was a time where this guy would have been promoted.

100 times out of 100, if some dirt bag crackhead says "I've got a gun" then that means he doesn't. If a robber actually has a gun, then he's gonna have it out from the get go and that is a totally different situation.

We had an incident a couple of weeks ago where some drug addict ****er tried to rob a pharmacy. He actually had a gun, but the lady behind the counter had one, too, and she plugged him. He screamed, "You crazy *****, you actually shot me" and ran outside. The cops got him laying in the parking lot.

Yeah, be a hero, because a company's money is worth so much more than a teller or a cashier's life.