# Why do bank robbers rob banks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355 "2011-05-26T21:10:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Voluble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/4af34b/32.png) [@Voluble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voluble)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/41 "2011-05-30T02:09:51Z")
One of my employees was on parole for bank robbery (don’t ask). In his case it was sheer stupidity. My thoughts had always been that people who chose to rob banks were either stupid or just really liked anal sex and didn’t want to admit it so they figured there was no downside to being sent to prison. He was the type of guy who would squeal his tires every time he left the parking lot so I guess there was an element of thrill seeking at work too. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/42 "2011-05-30T03:08:04Z")
The only person I’ve ever met who actually robbed a bank robbed some dozen or so banks, all of them in the “pass a note” variety. He never used a weapon during any of the robberies, just walked in and got as much cash as the teller he was robbing could give him. I think over 12 robberies the newspaper said he had stolen something like $20,000–it wasn’t much. And it was to fuel a cocaine addiction. So a lot of the speculation in this thread was pretty accurate for the one case where I knew the person involved :). Thinking about it if I wanted to rob a place the big plus to a bank is I’m almost certain to not die. Robbing a small business there is no way to know if you’ve got an owner who is under insured or uninsured and who may be willing to fight for/die for the money in his store. Banks have very organized, professional procedures focused on not causing a violent scene in the bank itself. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/43 "2011-05-30T03:12:33Z")
In the wild west banks, military payrolls, cash boxes in train depots, county courthouses were all popular places because they were places where huge amounts of cash essentially _had_ to be concentrated. They had no option but to concentrate what amounted to a vast fortune in these places. They were also small buildings in which on person had a very good chance of being able to get access to the loot. It used to be you had a legitimate chance of getting enough money out of a mid-sized bank in the era of Jesse James that if you weren’t an idiot you could conceivably just retire and live off that money and you’d probably never be caught. It appears the stupidity of criminals isn’t limited to our own time because most famous bank robbers in the mid/late 19th century didn’t quietly retire. However I think the equivalent of the Wild West bank is today the armored car. They sometimes carry multiple millions in cash, and if you can crack them open you essentially get the loot. Unlike banks where there are countless redundant lock systems, generally small amounts of cash on hand, extensive security, extensive backup in the area, armored cars are essentially on their own. If you can hit them fast enough and hard enough you’re going to get away with lots of money. It appears all of the largest cash heists in recent American history have all involved armored cars, and most of those have involved at least one person inside the car helping the robbers. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/44 "2011-05-30T04:25:55Z")
Wild guess for what it’s worth: a bank is seen as an institution, one that wrecks peoples’ lives, but a store/bar/restaurant is staffed by working stiffs. It’s not seen as hurting a person. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/45 "2011-05-30T19:52:31Z")
[Slate.com](http://Slate.com) just added an new feature with some interesting online reading: [The Longform.org Guide to Bank Heists: Five epic tales of elaborate schemes, desperate ploys, and lots and lots of cash.](http://www.slate.com/id/2295713/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/46 "2011-05-30T20:28:26Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > However I think the equivalent of the Wild West bank is today the armored car. They sometimes carry multiple millions in cash, and if you can crack them open you essentially get the loot. Unlike banks where there are countless redundant lock systems, generally small amounts of cash on hand, extensive security, extensive backup in the area, armored cars are essentially on their own. If you can hit them fast enough and hard enough you’re going to get away with lots of money. > > It appears all of the largest cash heists in recent American history have all involved armored cars, and most of those have involved at least one person inside the car helping the robbers. Also casinos. They have piles of cash on hand. But like banks (and unlike armored cars) they invest in serious security. I’m guessing armored car robberies have also become a lot more difficult. I assume any armored car nowadays is going to have cellular alarms and GPS tracking. The drivers can hit a switch and help will be on the way within minutes. You’re not going to have a situation where the car is out on its own anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_of_Lucan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/47 "2011-05-30T20:58:31Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Wild guess for what it’s worth: a bank is seen as an institution, one that wrecks peoples’ lives, but a store/bar/restaurant is staffed by working stiffs. It’s not seen as hurting a person. I am afraid you are right about people’s perceptions. In reality, the average US bar or restaurant hurts vastly more people than any normal bank when it is operating as a bank. A lot of people are socially conditioned to believe the opposite. They don’t understand what ordinary banks do. They just see them as places full of money, without analysing what the money is doing. Apparently this lack of understanding is because their school teachers didn’t understand either. The so-called “bankers” who have destroyed our economies were actually investors trying to make non-banking profit off investment deals. They were not involved in everyday banking as such. That’s why the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 forced the separation of the two kinds of business in the USA - until it was foolishly repealed in 1999. Alcohol is the drug of addiction which causes most damage in our societies. We only accept it because of historic usage. If anyone tried to introduce alcohol as a new drug now, he would be put behind bars, not behind a bar, by the same zealous guys who prosecute cannabis users. With some excellent exceptions, many US restaurants sell food which injures the health of those who buy it - heavy in fat and lacking in good nutrition. Many Americans no longer know what real food is. But that’s not the perception. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/48 "2011-05-30T21:56:00Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > College bookstores, actually, aren’t a bad idea. Some of them are tucked away deep inside buildings, which could make it harder, but on book buy-back day at the end of the term they might have thousands of dollars in cash on hand, and many states prohibit concealed carry on campuses. Dealt with many college students lately? In my (non-college) bookstore, they all pay with plastic, even if all they’re buying is a $2.00 used paperback or a cup of tea. I wouldn’t expect to find much cash in a college bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/49 "2011-05-31T00:01:42Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You see me doin’ thrill-seeker liquor store holdups with a “Born to Lose” tattoo on my chest? No… I do not. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/50 "2011-05-31T01:32:24Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:48, topic:583355”] I wouldn’t expect to find much cash in a college bookstore. [/QUOTE] Au contraire. I worked at the local community college bookstore for three weeks at the beginning of this semester. I handled a lot of big cash transactions—at least one an hour. I would start the shift with a $100 till, and by lunch there would be a couple grand in there. And they don’t drop it until the register is closed out at the end of the shift. Multiply that by the six registers we had going during peak traffic, and then factor in other favorable conditions such as the fact that campus police consists of two 23-year-olds who have never been in a confrontational situation with a real criminal and can’t drive directly to the building, and the facts that a major freeway is just three minutes away and that the cashiers aren’t packing, and you can see that a nice little cash haul can be yours for the pluckin’. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/51 "2011-05-31T02:42:22Z")
_Body Heat_, Teddy Lewis (Mickey Rourke): [Ned is getting the arson set-up from Teddy] Teddy Lewis: I got a serious question for you: What the fuck are you doing? This is not shit for you to be messin’ with. Are you ready to hear something? I want you to see if this sounds familiar: any time you try a decent crime, you got fifty ways you’re gonna fuck up. If you think of twenty-five of them, then you’re a genius… and you ain’t no genius… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/52 "2011-05-31T09:26:07Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Right. Even if the risk in robbing banks is considerably greater per attempt, the _total_ risk of one bank robbery versus however many convenience stores might make it a good bet. Not to mention the legal risk. Rob a bank and you go down for one count of robbery, which while likely extended to the max by federal statutes is still going to be time one can do. Rob twenty liquor stores and you’re not seeing the light of day any time soon. As Jean Gabin quips in _Le Cave Se Rebiffe_: “Loot gets divided, prison years add up”. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/53 "2011-05-31T14:13:06Z")
I get to be the first to post this? Hooray!: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHOgkDbVqc) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/54 "2011-05-31T14:36:43Z")
It seems to me banks are a great place to do a job, because they don’t resist. Yes, there are security cameras and whatnot, but if I’m going to pull off a heist, I’m wearing a mask and planning a getaway. What a bank has is a bunch of employees who won’t present any resistance; they’re trained to give you money and get you out before you shoot anyone. But who the hell knows what will happen in a bar? A store? You might get Mr. Scaredy-Pants, or you might get someone with a gun or a knife or a bat who goes nuts. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/55 "2011-05-31T14:49:26Z")
> [@ecoaster](#): > > Why not rob bars at closing time? Why not beauty salons? Why not college book stores after first week of classes? Why not outlets after sales/Sundays? Granted banks will always have more money than these places, but your chances of getting away are much, much, much better. Why don’t we see more robberies of cash-heavy places? You’d need at least a dozen guys doing a combination of cons. Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Boeski, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever. > [@Der Trihs](#): > > The explanation I’ve heard given in the past is that these days, bank robbers are idiots, the dimmer members of the criminal subculture. The class president at my college tried robbing a bank. They picked him up a few hours later. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/56 "2011-05-31T15:18:41Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > You’d need at least a dozen guys doing a combination of cons. Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re looking at a Boeski, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald ever… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jasper\_Kent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@Jasper\_Kent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasper_Kent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/57 "2012-03-28T23:25:20Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > Yes, I was going to say that. The reason drugs are illegal isn’t b/c of some high and mighty moralistic stance, but b/c they create behavoirs like thinking robbing a bank is a good idea. A drug user’s mind is admittedly altered, but you still have it backwards. Addicts become robbers because drugs are expensive. Drugs are expensive because they are illegal. If drugs were legal, they’d be cheaper. Most addicts would function at regular jobs (like Joe Six-Pack). Others would overdose. Either way, crime would go down since the _cost_ of the dope would not be a big issue. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/58 "2012-03-29T00:01:48Z")
Has it actually been proven that legalizing drugs reduces the cost of them? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/59 "2012-03-29T01:34:01Z")
Soo, anyone rob any banks in the last year? ---
**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:** [March 29, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/60 "2012-03-29T01:50:10Z")
I meant to, but my National Procrastination Society meetings kept getting in the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355.md?page=4)