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Caught Red-Handed!
A dye pack is one of the more popular ways to foil a bank robber. Under the parameters of the new Reg P, some security officers are using dye packs instead of bait money.
A dye pack consists of a pack of real bills (usually $10's or $20's) with a device in the middle of the cash that activates when it is triggered by a radio signal. The activation releases red smoke, red dye and CS tear gas from the pack.
We talked to Jim McCann, Eastern Regional Sales Manager of ICI Americas Inc., a leading manufacturer of dye packs, in his office in Tampa, Florida. Jim has been working with ICI's SECURITY PACŪ electronic protection system for twenty years. Jim says, "New technology allows ICI's device to be housed in a flexible pack, so that a robber would not notice any difference between a pack of money containing the dye pack and a regular pack of cash without the device."
The old dye packs used to be rigid, and quickly noticed by the robber, so the new flexible packs are a welcome advantage to financial institutions.
A transmitter that emits the correct radio frequency to activate the device is usually concealed near the doors through which the robber exits. The radio signal in this field is not a common one, so there is very little chance of it being elsewhere in the institution.
Jim addressed the concern of accidental activation by saying, "As long as the pack is sitting on the magnetic safety plate that is provided with the pack, it will not activate. The money pack with the device in it is perfectly safe as long as it is not within range of the radio signal or is on the magnetic plate. Accidental activation is definitely a happening of the past."
Stories about dye packs that have successfully gone off abound in our industry. To date, SECURITY PACŪ has been involved in over 7,000 robberies and has aided in the recovery of over $20 million while apprehending more than 2,500 criminals, according to ICI.
We reported to you last year the robber in California who stuffed the cash with a dye pack into his trouser pocket before he ran out of the bank. He had some pretty uncomfortable minutes before he was arrested by police officers. After he was convicted and jailed, he sued the institution for being "cruel and inhumane."
An electrician who was doing some repairs in an east coast institution found a pack of cash with a dye pack in it in a vault and stuffed it into his boot before he left for lunch. They picked him up buying new socks and shoes at a local K-Mart.
And more than one robber has been seen flinging money out of car windows as a red cloud filled the get-away car!
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned us that violent crime is on the increase and that we can expect more robberies this year than ever before. Dye packs are one of the successful ways the financial industry is fighting back!
Copyright © 1991 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 2, No. 5, 6/91
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