Zone Z5
Opening & Closing
Two windows a day, thinly staffed and entirely predictable. If you cover nothing else, cover these.
Why these two windows
Few staff, cash being moved, doors unlocked or being locked, and a timing anyone can establish by watching the car park for three mornings. Every element of the risk peaks simultaneously.
Nobody opens alone
Two staff minimum, arriving separately, with one remaining outside until an all-clear signal. The signal should be positive and specific — a message or a visible sign — rather than the absence of an alarm.
A duress signal that means something
Agreed in advance, natural enough to use under coercion, and known by everyone who opens or closes. Reviewed twice a year, because the person who designed it usually left.
Vary the timing where you can
Opening times are published and cannot move. Arrival times can. Staggering arrival by fifteen or twenty minutes removes the fixed point that makes this window attractive.
The officer arrives first and leaves last
They are present before the first staff member and remain until the last has left the car park. A closing officer who leaves at the same moment as staff has covered the branch but not the people.
Car park lighting and sightlines
Closing happens after dark for half the year. The walk from the door to the car is part of this zone, and it is the part branch surveys forget most reliably.