Thing: Bank vault in plain sight

>> Sometimes, passers-by are a better deterrent to safe-crackers than armed guards by PHILIP PREVILLE

Across the street from Notre-Dame Cathedral in Old Montreal stands the former head office of the Banque Canadienne Nationale, or BCN (now the National Bank). At the back of the building along St-Francis-Xavier, in plain sight of everyone who walks by, is a massive black box three storeys high, on stilts two storeys high, attached to the bank by a single suspended walkway. The boiler room, perhaps? No--the vault.

At first glance, this vault seems to break every security rule imaginable: most bank safes are in basements or un-numbered upper floors, their locations and entrances kept as secret as possible. But this one is a rare example of what security experts call "crime prevention through environmental design." Which is to say, it uses its location to its advantage.

It's tunnel-proof. In 90 per cent of all vault breaches, the thieves tunnel their way in--either from a neighbouring sewer pipe or from the offices located directly above or below the vault. Most vaults' steel walls are anywhere from six to 17 inches thick, which means the operation can take several days and will require industrial power tools. With this vault, there's no way to do it without making a hell of a racket--and an obvious spectacle--in a public space.

It's usually surrounded by tourists. In security-speak, it's called "the principle of natural observation." Who needs to hire armed guards when your vault is located beside a major tourist attraction? The nearby Centaur Theatre also ensures a decent flow of nighttime traffic, as do people on their way to and from bars and restaurants in Old Montreal. On most days, it's impossible to attempt a break-in without being witnessed by dozens of people.

Escape is difficult. In the dead of winter, when the tourist traffic dries up, a fast-working team of thieves could take their chances: detonate an explosive at night, get in, grab whatever they can and run like hell. But consultant Mike Fenton of Intercon Security says that "proximity to escape routes" is a key priority for any thief (second only to "amount of cash"). In Old Montreal, there are only two ways out: north and west. The cops merely have to line up a bunch of cruisers along St-Antoine, a few more on McGill and de la Commune and the jig is up.

Final factoid: Back in the day when this was the BCN's main vault, it was filled with cash, gold and more. But when the National Bank moved its headquarters to Beaver Hall Hill, it became "the most beautiful and most under-used three-storey vault in the city," says National Bank spokesperson Jean Robillard. It's now more valuable as a location for film shoots than as high-security storage. :