Building society branches are financial institutions where residents of Great Britain deposit their savings. In 1986, 148 building societies in the United Kingdom operated 7,000 branches. Data for the study included successful and attempted robberies and burglaries for 5,236 of the 7,000 branches. While the majority of the branches were well-protected from attack by robbers or burglars, the most secure branches were fortified with bullet-proof security screens, kept members of the public out of the banking hall, and employed staff trained to walk away from counters. Specific advice is provided to improve security in the branches. A checklist to reduce the offenders' sense of control is provided, along with security strategies for management. 10 footnotes.