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Yeah, these crooks should do it the \"right way\"... on Wall St with hedge funds.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-315381-100x100.png\")
@OhYeahAlright: I'd have to disagree with you, to blame it all on hedge funds just exposes many people's ignorance. There are a lot of people who are culpable, corporations and citizens alike.
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Doesn't TD have longer hours than most banks giving them more time to get robbed?
And now that Commissioner Kelly's comments have been publicized, robbery attempts at TD Banks are going to skyrocket. Way to advertise, there, Kelly!
Kelly made the same warnings about Commerce Bank for the past several years... which is now TD Bank. Why would people want to open an account at an institution where there is an increased risk of robberies?
Also, someone explain to me how have Regis and Ripka shill for your company supposed to drive business?
@Kos: \"Why would people want to open an account at an institution where there is an increased risk of robberies?\"
Because the chances of your banking institution of choice being robbed has virtually no impact on your banking there, compared with the advantages of doing so? I had an account there when they were Commerce Bank and absolutely loved it (moved out of the area) -- best customer service I've ever had at a bank, extended hours, yes, even the free coin counting. It really is America's Most Convenient Bank.
@Papercutninja: Well, I can only speak for Canadian branches... but compared to the other options, TD's service is utterly astronomical. They have been willing to jump through more hoops on my behalf than I could ever have hoped.
Thank you for pointing out the deficiencies in TD's security.
But on the positive side, they actually use Sam Waterston to prosecute the robbers when they are caught!
I trust Sam Waterston, I once bought a Robot Insurance Policy from him, good guy.
I don't understand why the US doesn't go to a European system where you have to pass through a series of 2 airlock doors before entering or leaving banks. That would deter bank robbers. Banks in metro European cities have had these for decades and they don't get robbed.
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lol love the picture. It captures the essence of the story.
\"17% of this New York City's bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches\" seems like it would be pertinent to note what percentage of bank branches in New York are TD banks
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-388919-100x100.png\")
Remember, the rationale for robbing a bank is \"because that's where the money is.\" I believe this situation will sort itself out soon enough.
They don't fly the 'TD Canada Trust' flag down south?
Since it's a Canadian bank (TD stands for Toronto Dominion), it'll probably be one of the few available when the American ones are done flushing themselves down the sewer.
I had a bank long ago that didn't have the bullet proof glass, I thought it was a refreshingly nice change and my first thought wasn't \"woohoo, time to rob them!\". I'm sick of customer service people in cages, it encourages them to treat me like I'm in one too.
Though now I know why have those shiny counters in banks and I'll start paraffining my fingers before I go in, thanks.
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Wow, none of the banks where I live have any bulletproof glass or fancy countertops.
I would imagine the theft rate at WaMu is freaking low.
I knew someone who worked at a bank. He told be the Bullet Proof Glass was basically just for show. His boss said that if someone ever tried to rob the bank give them the money. From what I've heard that standard across most banks. They would rather turn over the money then risk a crook shooting a customer.
If that's true I question how much of a deterrent bullet proof glass is.
I was in a Wachovia just yesterday that has one of these new Plexiglas screens. The floor manager was actually talking to someone else about the mandate from the police to install them. I quipped to him that it assumed there was anything worth taking.
He didn't quite get the joke on the same level as me.
Wish there was an edit button.
I curious if the Crook had a gun when he tried robbing the 3 chase banks before the he managed to get lucky at the TD branch
bulletproof glass?? most robberies are with notes passed at the counter, when i worked at commerce they told us to just hand over the money, thats what insurance was for. more cameras and new countertops does make sense.
@xamarshahx: It would insure that bank robbers are serious. A serious robber will either start starting customers or toss a pipe bomb at you.
I can't recall a TD Bank I have been in, other than those outside of NYC, that didn't have an in uniform NYPD officer in it.
@ N.RobertMoses
That's strange because I've been in several TD banks in NYC none of them have had Cop inside or outside.
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You see... if you want to rob a bank in NYC the RIGHT WAY, you become a hedge fund manager, take a golden parachute worth millions and leave a few weeks before your fund plummets. Then you take a govt bailout.
@JGKojak: what hedge fund managers recieved a golden parachute? Or for that matter bailout money? Somebody already beat you to your misinformed joke haha
FAIL
I saw something really dumb at a bank's main office building. They installed 2 or 3\" bullet resistant glass in all the windows of the security guard's station. Then, rather than install an intercom, they had holes drilled in it and covered with cheap aluminum grates so you could talk to the guy without yelling.
I just switched my accounts from BoA to TD Bank. I like solvency.
I just finished listening to \"Bad Banks\" on This American Life and out of curiosity I looked up a few banks' market caps:
TD Bank: 23.12B
Bank of America: 19.52B
Citibank: 5.53B
I welcome our poutine-eating overlords.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-79750-100x100.png\")
@bilge: TD aren't the poutine eating overlords. Rather it's the Bank of Montreal (Harris bank in the States I believe.)
Poutine is some serious artery clogging fun though.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
I need to know two things:
Does Google street view have cameras at that TD Bank
and
If so, what are the chances they were on and caught the robbery taking place?
@pecan 3.14159265: Google Street View is filmed by a van with a mounted camera that drives down the street. So, no, the chances that the camera was present, much less on, is pretty much nonexistent.
Any bank (or retail establishment) tells it's employees to just hand over the money, and to try to get a good description of the robber- it's better than risking anyone getting hurt.
The only thing that glass does is keep a would-be robber from vaulting the counter into the teller line on their own... and making old people act all weird and try to talk through the little slot at the bottom. (I really don't miss being a bank teller in a branch next door to a retirement community.)
It seems the location of a bank can make it easy to rob. We have a local bank that is on a corner right next to a freeway on-ramp. It has been robbed often. The getaway escape is ideal for crooks.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-808583-100x100.png\")
I just have to say the picture made me \"LOL\".
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-25741-100x100.png\")
The other thing that bothers me about these banks are computer screens on desks that are visible from the street. WTH?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-426969-100x100.png\")
And get this, 17% of this New York City's bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches.
At face value, this seems like such an irrelevant statistic. How am I supposed to interpret this? I'm having a 67% hard time understanding this.
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lol they don't believe it's a fair portrayal - what about an accurate one? The truth hurts
When I worked in banking many moons ago, I was robbed by the same guy twice about a week apart. He came back a third time but we were closed for a holiday. I would have loved to have some bullet RESISTANT glass between me and the guy that robbed me. I didn't see a gun, but his saying he had one in his note was enough for me.
pwned
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-264697-100x100.png\")
Ha, even Canadian banks are more friendly.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-352646-100x100.png\")
@Kos(for some reason the '@' code isn't working): The reason they have those 2 shills for the bank is the same reason they wasted money on naming rights for TD Banknorth Garden - Boston's Premier Sports and Entertainment Arena (to quote from their home page description). I guess like every other john out there, they think if people keep seeing the name in a sports story (or those 2 people on tv) that we'll all go to their bank when we need a bank. I would like to think that consumerist readers are smarter than that and make our decisions based on \"the facts of the case\" rather than shills (and other blatant tie-ins that have nothing to do with banking). And there is another wonderful john that thinks people seeing their name on an event is good for business. It seems that the good folks at AT&T have created a AT&T Concert Series at the Garden. Are we all going to run out and get Fleetwood Mac tickets because of these two wonderful companies? Only if you want to get crushed by the other great company we all love and admire; of course, I am speaking of ticketmaster.
My parents use TD(I'm in Canada) I have never switched over to them at all still keeping all my money in BMO.
My local BMO is not secure at all, when I walk by there is this little corridor between the tellers and the offices that lead right back to the vault.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-488475-100x100.png\")
I've been doing research on bank robbery for a book. Most bank robberies are \"note jobs.\" You could stand right next to the guy and not know the bank was being robbed. I don't like going into the bank at any time because I'm chicken that there will be a takeover robbery while I'm in there. (I'm one of those people who while standing in line is always looking for something I can defend myself with just in case of zombie attack.)
And what is up with the Profile and Login things at the top? They've been AWOL for two days...I can't directly reply to anyone either. :(
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1236-100x100.png\")
My cousin was a manager at Commerce (before they were absorbed by TD). She said the founders knew about the vulnerabilities and didn't care. \"That's why we have insurance.\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-390449-100x100.png\")
@missdona: we need eybrows mcgee to comment on this. There has been discussion about moral hazard all week and she is in the insurance industry to boot.
@missdona:
Not really a surprise, considering the founder himself was a crook. That only reason he sold the bank was because he was in deep with the Feds.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-52435-100x100.png\")
@missdona: If it really was a flaw that's obvious, their insurance premiums would be several times the insurance premiums of their competitors.
@Applekid: It's totally that obvious. The founders were Burger King franchisees in NJ (or something like that) and their vision was banking as easy as going into BK.
\"According to the NYPD, almost two-thirds (64%) of all bank robberies in New York City took place at branches equipped with bandit barriers.\" Meaningless unless we know what percentage of branches are equipped with bandit barriers.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-449801-100x100.png\")
\"And get this, 17% of this New York City's bank robberies occurred at TD Bank branches.\"
What percentage of New York City's banks is TD? If it's close to 17%, we might not have a story here.
I have to say that I can see both sides of this. I don't mind a bank having an armed guard or two, in fact I think that makes perfect sense. But one of my local credit union branches has an airlock-style metal detector in the front door. If you dare to try and enter the bank with keys and a cellphone, the door locks and you have to wait for a guard to come over and shake you down. Once you pass this checkpoint, you are greeted by a full-height wall of bulletproof glass between you and the teller. I found it very off-putting, like it was *presumed* that I was there to rob the place. I now drive a bit further to visit a branch which doesn't have the ambiance of a Supermax prison. If all the branches were like this, I'd honestly be inclined to do my banking elsewhere.
The fact is that the majority of bank robbers quietly pass a note to the teller, claiming to be armed (they often aren't--being armed significantly boosts prison time if the perp is later caught, and the smarter criminals know this.) The hollywood-style \"ski mask and uzi\" robbery is relatively uncommon. In any case, the tellers are trained to hand over the money when confronted, because it's insured and the bank does not want to risk provoking a gun battle.
use counter tops that capture clear fingerprints\"
Huh? Never seen these before. That would mean for it to work they would have to keep them clean. I can see it now a teller saying hold on why she cleans the counter just in case you rob them. Links anyone?
I worked at Commerce, this isn't really new. The NYC PD really hates this model of customer friendly banking. In reality, yes, it makes it easier for a robber to get to the tellers, however, most banks train their tellers not to resist but to just hand over as little as the robber will take.
(I've heard some great stories about a teller handing over a single bill and saying that's all you're gonna get - and the robber took it and ran)
Add that to the following:
Commerce, now TD, is open almost 4000 hours a year which is WAY more than most other banks. Normalize that 17% against open hours and it's not that bad.
One branch I worked at got robbed in this way - The robber walked up to a Customer Service Rep, showed a gun and said to get money from the vault. The robber kept the CSR at gunpoint at the desk while the manager went to comply. Unless you put everyone behind a barrier, that kind of robbery won't change.
I'm not a TD plant, I left the bank almost 2 years ago for another career entirely. I just don't like sensationalism (from the commissioner, not Consumerist) and wanted to add a couple points for discussion.
How is this news? Here's a quote from the NYTimes back in 2005:
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly recently sent a letter to Commerce pointing out the bank's most-robbed status. The letter criticized Commerce for refusing to adopt a number of recommended security practices, including installing glass windows between tellers and customers.
I've worked for two banks. Bandit barriers do absolutely NOTHING. During one robbery at a branch that had a barrier, the robber went up to the customer service rep and pistol whipped her. Then made her let him behind the teller line.
Most robberies consist of someone passing a note that says \"I have a gun, give me your money\" and the teller gives them some money. The robber is gone in less than 60 seconds. Lastly, how does the barrier protect the other customers in the lobby, or the other workers who are NOT behind the barrier? This is a false controversy.
Weird ..TD seems to be the bank of choice. Another TD bank in our fair city was robbed. This time the robbers didnt get away.
\"Police say a man suspected of robbing a TD Canada Trust bank on Montreal Rd. within the past hour has been shot by officers in an exchange of bullets. \"
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2009/03/06/8659211.html
I have been a TD customer for thirty years in Canada and they are no slouches about security. Banking is about trust, and I think it would be hard to develop a relationship with someone behind a glass wall. But we dont even do that in taxis.
@reflection717: \"Commerce, now TD, is open almost 4000 hours a year which is WAY more than most other banks. Normalize that 17% against open hours and it's not that bad.\"
Its bad. There's approximately 65 TD branches in the 5 boroughs based on a quick glance of the FDIC website. Citibank has more than that in Manhattan alone. Factor in the remaining Citi branches, Chase, BofA and the other national/regional/local banks and 17% is pretty large for a small population...
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I actually drove by a TD Bank robbery last week. There were cop cars out front, so my first thought was \"ZOMG bank robbery! But probably not really a bank robbery! I'm sure those police officers have a perfectly mundane reason to be sitting there!\" But, yeah, turns out it really was a bank robbery.
This is still news? NYC has been mad at us (TD Bank formerly Commerce Bank) since '01 because we don't have glass between the tellers and customers. Glass partitions do not stop a robber from getting money, they just add some assumed security for the customers. And for the story about the robbers that went to 3 chase branches before they robbed a td store, there are just as many instances with the tables turned around. TD stores in NYC have full-time greeters and security guards on location; these stop robbers more than some plastic will. Robbers do not want anyone to see their faces and remember them.
Also, Wachovia got robbed more than TD, with 40% less offices.
where did you get the Wachovia numbers, both for the number of branches and the number of robberies?
If you follow the article links you'll get various articles that mention the info.
\"In 2008, 21 of Wachovia's 24 branches were robbed. Wachovia's new owners, Wells Fargo, lost no time this year to revamp two branches. Capital One has put in bid to install so-called bandit barriers.\"
[www.nydailynews.com]
@reflection717: Funny how this only happens to their US branches. Maybe they should start restructuring them to the style of their Canadian branches?
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-125641-100x100.png\")
The most interesting part of that response is that he uses the word \"stores\" to describe his bank branches. I've never heard a bank referred to as a store before.
@SooratThisbe And to believe that is my home TD branch, sigh.
I have to say TD bank is a very good bank, been with them for 10 years and I have no problems with them. I wish they would expand out of NY and go further south in the US, that way I can use them in FL when I go vacationing.
Just curious....
I have accounts at TD bank. I was there today at my local branch in Bayside Queens. I've noticed for some time that they have a cop stationed in the bank, seems like the entire time the bank is open. WHO PAYS HIS SALARY?
Oh, and today while I was there at the cash machine, the nice young cop was leaning against the wall TEXTING!!! YEP!!
Hey, I'm sure TD bank must have a camera someplace that should have captured that! But why would they care, I'm sure TD doesn't pay his salary. What a joke!
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the td in my town was robbed twice this week by the same guy!
[www.dailyrecord.com]