A Theory About Bank Robbery
We have always assumed that bank robberies increased in December because of the holidays. This year, it seems as if we're anticipating incorrectly. The number of bank robberies is up in the first half of the year reportedly by 300% in New York City, increased twofold in Boston, and reports from some other areas of the country showing the same kind of climbing statistics.
Causes
The cause of bank robbery is always under speculation, and depending on what segment of society you are from, or in what profession or industry you labor, the opinions differ. Economists will tell you - and the media more or less buys this theory - that bank robbery occurs because of poor economy. People are without jobs, and they get desperate.
Security officers and law enforcement know differently. Very few bank robbers use their ill gotten loot to pay bills or mortgage payments or medical expenses. The simple matter of fact is that most bank robbers - over 75% according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which keeps tabs on this sort of thing - rob banks to get money for drugs. The rest are most likely planning to live high-on-the-hog for a short time until the next bank robbery.
Patriot Act of 2001
But these facts haven't changed. Why, then, are we experiencing this up-tick in bank robbery numbers? One theory - the PATRIOT Act has made it tougher to do business fraudulently with financial institutions. The fact that we are screening, verifying, profiling (yes - I said profiling - let's face facts) and making it more difficult to get past our employees, our systems, and our regulations is making those who "need" cash to do it in a different way. They used to have moderate success by stealing or counterfeiting checks and getting away with cashing them. With all the emphasis on identity theft, and the notices that are starting to appear in our lobbies about identification verification, thieves are doing what looks like an easier theft - bank robbery.
75% Get Caught
Law enforcement numbers tell us that about 75% of bank robbers are caught. In most cases they go to jail. If they use a weapon, they definitely go to jail, thanks to federal law. On the other hand, only about 33% of check passers are brought to justice. And our courts look on check passing as a "white collar crime" and hesitate to sentence fraud artists to jail unless they take us for very, very large amounts or are habitual, known offenders. Our losses in past years to check fraud have been 170 times larger than our robbery losses. (Approximately $70 million vs. $12 billion.)
Fighting Back
Some institutions, alert to what is happening, are actively fighting bank robbery. Bank of America, for instance, working closely with other financial institutions and with law enforcement, has changed their training, installed equipment, and changed their physical branch environments. They've installed dye packs, bullet resistant bandit barriers, mantraps with weapons detection capabilities, high-tech digital surveillance systems that expedite transfer of photos to police, and instituted additional professional training for banking center associates. In some high risk areas they've also deployed professionally trained, armed security officers. And they've seen robberies in the greater Los Angeles area drop to 24 in the last six months of last year from 77 during the same months the year before. They probably saved money doing all this. The National Safe Workplace Institute says the average bank robbery results in a $25,000 loss including actual robbery loss, lost productivity, turnover, lost sales opportunities, counseling/therapy time and absenteeism.
Security officers are aware of the increased number of robberies, and are putting more emphasis on training and equipment. Sometimes it's hard though for them to make the changes necessary due to the apathy of other areas and departments in the financial institution. This is not the time to relax our vigilance. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Copyright © 2003 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 13, No. 4, 6/24
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