# Is bank robbing slowly dying out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382 "2012-08-04T03:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/21 "2012-08-04T17:05:20Z")
> [@ClevelandProud](#): > > I am thinking that a potential bank robber sees that and they will set their sights on another bank to rob. All banks over here use this system. Still, there are armed bank robberies on occasion. That said, when I read a Paris local paper that report this kind of things, I’m puzzled at how little these people are robbing, considering the risks. In fact, I’m generally puzzled by most local reports of crimes. Very occasionnally, I read about a smart crime (a freight car worth of designer clothes worth millions stolen) but it’s immediately followed by the idiotic manager of a post office organizing with several accomplices the robbery of her own agency for a grand total of some dozen thousands euros (so, she didn’t even have the excuse of not knowing of much money there was, she lost a secure, lifelong job probably correctly paid, and of course is going to jail over what, once shared with the accomplices, probably amounts to some months of her salary). My LEO brother says that most criminals are idiots, including heinous ones (a murderer leaving his parking ticket with his name and adress on the crime scene, or letting in officers without a warrant when blood-covered cloths are spilled around his place, a guy killing his son’s friend for € 1500 worth of pot and the whole thing being figured out by the enquiries of…the victim’s _15 yo friends_, before the body was even found). ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/22 "2012-08-04T18:39:31Z")
I assumed that banks would be easier to rob in this day and time with the “no resistance” policy. Slide a note to the teller stating that she is being robbed, fill up a sack with cash, and then leave. The teller is instructed to comply. And now the robber, if caught, doesn’t get an “armed” robbery charge. If Jesse James handed a bank teller a note, the bank teller would have laughed and pulled a shotgun on him. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/23 "2012-08-04T19:02:59Z")
Bank robbery is still a fairly popular criminal pastime. In the Houston metro area there were over 50 bank robberies by June this year, around a 50% increase over last year. One day there were three in a 90 minute period. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/24 "2012-08-04T19:03:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend of mine is a bank teller. She was involved in a hold up. Years later she was involved in a second hold up _by the same guy, wearing the same clothes_. The second hold up was the day he was released from prison, wearing the same outfit he was in when arrested the first time. > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > The bank will never expect it! > > The cops will never suspect it! > > The jury will reasonably doubt it! > > Reverse psychology shall forever be my one and only master plan. The “do you really think I’m that stupid??” defence. Be careful what you ask… The explanation was that people rob banks “because that’s where the money is”. If it is easier to raid an establishment, hold up a whole bunch of people and then bugger off - then crooks will start doing that. I’ve seen the trend that one easy business after another is targetted - self serve gas stations, convenience stores, video rental stores, drugstores,liquor stores, cabbies, etc. As each business realizes the risk and hardens up, the crooks move on to another. The danger of robbing a well-populated establishment, there’s always the risk of someone who wants to fight; see the recent news footage of the 70yo pulling a gun and chasing some thieves in an internet cafe. (The scary thing is, there were bullets flying all over, and the only hit appears to be one thief in the butt… If you’re going to shoot - aim.) Or watch the _Pulp Fiction_ restaurant moment. The more people, the harder it is to control. Late night alone places are easiest, I suppose. Between bank cards, credit cards, and time-lock safes, there’s less actual cash in most businesses. The great thing about a bank is they have lots of cash, on purpose; and they tell the staff not to fight back but cooperate quietly. After all, in a place that makes millions a month, a $7,000 loss is a lot cheaper than even the worker’s comp claim they might otherwise have to pay. Leave it to the police to chase the thieves. ---
**Author:** ![Rhaegar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/51bf81/32.png) [@Rhaegar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhaegar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/25 "2012-08-04T20:21:34Z")
People still rob banks, they just do it electronically now. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/26 "2012-08-04T21:27:05Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend of mine is a bank teller. She was involved in a hold up. Years later she was involved in a second hold up _by the same guy, wearing the same clothes_. The second hold up was the day he was released from prison, wearing the same outfit he was in when arrested the first time. Maybe he saw the movie “Double Jeopardy” while in prison? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/27 "2012-08-04T22:03:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend of mine is a bank teller. She was involved in a hold up. Years later she was involved in a second hold up _by the same guy, wearing the same clothes_. The second hold up was the day he was released from prison, wearing the same outfit he was in when arrested the first time. Was in a carpool, once, with a guy who did bank admin. He told a story about a robber who robbed a bank after failing to rob a donut store. Despite the gun, the donut store owner had told him to go to hell. The guy probably would have been okay grabbing a big pink box of donuts off of the counter in pique, if he hadn’t kept carrying it through the bank robbery and after. It was kind of hard to miss. He was walking down the street, still holding the box, when the call went out about the attempted store robbery. A patrol car spotted him and the cops were having a little chat with him when the call came out about the bank robbery. There was no word on whether or not he had at least gotten to eat a donut. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/28 "2012-08-04T22:28:24Z")
> [@Baracus](#): > > If the robber(s) notices the outer doors are locked before the inner ones close, you may turn a simple bank robbery into a hostage situation. It would be reasonably easy to make this unlikely/impossible. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/29 "2012-08-04T23:08:48Z")
> [@Rhaegar](#): > > People still rob banks, they just do it electronically now. Well, robbery needs force or fear, which is much harder to do when you aren’t there in person. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/30 "2012-08-06T06:24:38Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I assumed that banks would be easier to rob in this day and time with the “no resistance” policy. Slide a note to the teller stating that she is being robbed, fill up a sack with cash, and then leave. The teller is instructed to comply. > > And now the robber, if caught, doesn’t get an “armed” robbery charge. Are you sure? I thought that in most states, the threat of a gun or displaying a fake gun was sufficient to get an ‘armed robbery’ charge. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/31 "2012-08-06T06:41:02Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Are you sure? > > I thought that in most states, the threat of a gun or displaying a fake gun was sufficient to get an ‘armed robbery’ charge. **jtgain** didn’t say anything about a gun. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/32 "2012-08-06T18:49:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > …we’re now getting even more disturbing robberies at restaurants. They rob the customers and the business. We had a bunch of those type robberies last year. They were in a nice part of town too. Pretty sure the same guys were doing it. They were finally caught. I don’t recall the details. Maybe they saw _Pulp Fiction_. The first bank robbery to ever be filmed was in Cleveland - this story was just in our local paper: [Cleveland bank robbery was first to be captured on film: Greater Cleveland Innovations (gallery) - cleveland.com](http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/08/cleveland_bank_robbery_was_fir.html) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/33 "2012-08-06T19:38:09Z")
[According to these stats (7 years out of date)](http://www.popcenter.org/problems/robbery_banks/), bank robberies are about flat, and rise and fall in line with other crimes, mostly as a function of the economy. That’s the best I can find, although I’d like to find stuff that shows they are slowly ebbing. I can’t imagine 30 years from now it’ll still be going on - who’ll have cash? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/34 "2012-08-06T20:57:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > One kind of Bank robbery has been eliminated. Well, almost entirely. 😉 > > That is breaking into the bank after hours. Either by tunneling or breaking through a wall from an adjoining business. The modern vaults with time release locks these days makes that nearly impossible. > > I can’t recall an after hours robbery (excluding ATM’s ripped out of walls) in the U.S. in decades. Europe had one maybe 10 years ago where the thieves targeted the safety deposit boxes. That would be burglary, not robbery. “Robbery” means that force was used to coerce a person. If you’re just breaking into a building where there are no people and stealing, that’s “burglary.” ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/35 "2012-08-07T01:36:09Z")
> [@griffon502](#): > > That is NOT a"sucess rate". The 89.2% is about they taking away the cash, not about not being caught. A criminal taking money then get caught 1 hour later by the police would still be regarded as “making off with loot”, does this sound “successful” to you? > > In fact, your stats prove that bank robberies are in decline, i mean, $7000 on average? Compared with how many years they gonna have to serve it’s totally pathetic. They are better off washing dishes in a restaurant and earning the $7000 legally instead of spending like 10 years and restricted freedom in a prison for $7000 robbery. I think i agree with the poster that today’s bank robbers are dumb-asses. Going by that FBI page, a clarification has to be made. 89% of the crimes involved something being taken. So, that’s not really a success rate nor does it allude to one. However, as one reads further, 20% of the loot was recovered, partially or in full. But, wait, there’s more! 54% of the perp’s were identified! That pushes the success rate down to 46%. 6088 people were involved, 54% identified. Let’s assume, they were ID’d and then caught. That leaves 2825 people at large with the remaining 80% of the loot which is $30,674,801.57. Divide that by 2825, and you have a per capita take home of $10,858.34. So, a 46% chance of success, for $10k. If you fail, 10 years of prison. Not really worth it. I mean, you can drive around and pick things up via Craigslist for free and sell them and make that, if not more, legally. What’s interesting though, is that of the ID’d people, 37% were narcotics users, 18% had priors. So, that leaves 46% (?!) of people who are not drug users and have no priors. Weird. Of the original group of 46% who got away, as in never ID’d, that sounds like an “organized” crime to me. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/36 "2012-08-07T02:16:25Z")
Bank Robbery, A Dying Art. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/37 "2012-08-07T17:19:27Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I have a vague memory of reading that bank robbers are split into two categories. The organized and non-organized ones. > SNIP I used to have a job that involved looking at video surveillance from bank robberies. I would get to see police, bank and new reports of these robberies. This would have been US banks, mostly in southern states, and in the decade from 2000 to 2010. It seemed like the hauls clustered around idiots who only got $700 and real pros who scored $7000. I’m not doubting the FBI stats quoted before; perhaps the banks (or the criminals victimizing them) I was employed by were atypical in some fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/38 "2012-08-07T18:07:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Bank Robbery, A Dying Art. Indeed. I miss the good old days of bank robbery, when all it took was a pistol and some chutzpah. Nowadays, you practically need to have a PhD to get through all the security systems and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/39 "2012-08-07T18:14:35Z")
Butch Cassidy: What happened to the old bank? It was beautiful. Guard: People kept robbing it. Butch Cassidy: Small price to pay for beauty. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382/40 "2012-08-07T21:27:46Z")
I think the old type of bank robbery is pretty much dead - or at least close enough to it that I don’t recall hearing of any instances in recent years. And by that I mean where some guys with guns come in and force the bank employees to open the safe/vault and give them all the money in the bank. What you have nowadays is people robbing individual tellers of a few hundred dollars, or maybe a few thousand. That’s not the same thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-bank-robbing-slowly-dying-out/630382.md?page=3)