Banks try charm to deter robbers; claim it 'scares the lights' out of bandits

What's the best way to make a bank robber turn around and walk out the door empty-handed? Try a handshake and a smile.

Excessive friendliness is the key to the 'Safecatch' system created by FBI Special Agent Larry Carr. The premise is that an overdose of courtesy will unnerve would-be robbers and get them to rethink the crime.

'If you're a legitimate customer, you think, 'This is the friendliest person I've met in my life.'

' 'If you're a bad guy, it scares the lights out of you,' said Drew Ness, a vice-president of Bellevue-based First Mutual Bank, who advocates the approach.

Carr, who has taught the method to employees at 16 Washington banks over the last few years, credits the system in part for the drop in Seattle bank robberies from 80 in the first three months of 2006 to 44 during the same period this year. On Tuesday, he ran a training session for employees at a First Mutual branch in Seattle."