Putnam County has joined a growing list of places where banks are requiring people to take off their hats, hoods and sunglasses.
An event was planned for Thursday to kick-off a "No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses" program for seven of the nine financial institutions in the county.
Rick Lee, chairman of the Florida Bankers Association and president of Citizens Bank of Florida, said the program is a response to an increase in the number of bank robberies in Florida in recent months.
"The simple act of removing hats, hoods, and sunglasses inside Florida financial institutions will make it much easier to identify and capture anyone committing a crime," Lee said in a prepared statement.
The law enforcement agencies participating in the kick-off to introduce the program to the area include the Putnam County Sheriff's Office as well as the police departments in Palatka, Crescent City, Interlachen and Welaka. A news release about the program referred to the "No Hats" bank policy as "an effective deterrent to the so-called 'note-job' criminals. These are typically unarmed individuals who want to enter and leave the institutions without being notice."
