# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/61 "2012-03-29T02:36:53Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > In places like grocery stores, where there are several cashiers, you’ll occasionally see a manager taking money out of a register so that there’s not a tempting amount in the till. The goal is to have enough money to be able to easily make change, but not so much in the drawers that the consumer or the cashier starts thinking that nobody would miss it very much. Modern cash registers (which are just PC-type computers in a cash-register-shaped box) track the amount of all cash, checks, credit cards slips, etc., in the drawer at all times. They are configured to allow only up to a certain amount. When the till approaches the limit, warning messages flash to advise the cashier to make a cash drop. If that is ignored, when the limit is reached, the register flashes another message and refuses to ring up any more sales until cash is dropped. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/62 "2012-03-29T02:52:46Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Has it actually been proven that legalizing drugs reduces the cost of them? Don’t think so; off the top of my head, I can’t think of any place where any illegal drugs have been legalized. Pot is decriminalized or tolerated in some places, but even those governments spend quite a lot of money suppressing the drug trade. ---
**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, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/63 "2012-03-29T03:00:04Z")
I thought Portugal had effectively decriminalized most formerly-illegal drugs. Not sure what effect it had on prices though. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/64 "2012-03-29T04:00:32Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Has it actually been proven that legalizing drugs reduces the cost of them? Anybody got any hard data on prices of alcoholic beverages before, during, and after Prohibition? ---
**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 29, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/65 "2012-03-29T13:04:20Z")
Okay, no hard data here-- just common sense. If you think about Prohibition, remember that it didn’t really reduce drinking. It just put the alcohol business in the hands of organized crime-- making them very wealthy in the process. Of course an illegal substance is more expensive. Selling contraband involves risk. People are willing to take risks if the profit margin is high enough. No matter how illegal a substance is, if the demand is high someone will be a supplier. But it won’t be cheap. EXAMPLE: Marijuana is relatively easy and cheap to grow. Even if it were heavily taxed, it would be cheaper than it is now simply because there would be no risk of prison in growing/selling it. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/66 "2012-03-29T15:13:53Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Soo, anyone rob any banks in the last year? Since we’ve resurrected this thread, here are the 2011 stats: 1,081 bank robberies, a bit over $7.5 million in cash. $6,940 average take. [http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-statistics-2011/bank-crime-statistics-2011-q1](http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-statistics-2011/bank-crime-statistics-2011-q1) ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/67 "2012-03-29T15:57:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I meant to, but my National Procrastination Society meetings kept getting in the way. Jeez, I never seem to get around to attending those. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/68 "2012-03-29T16:13:15Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Jeez, I never seem to get around to attending those. I’m still waiting for them to send me the details of where they meet. ---
**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 30, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/69 "2012-03-30T00:42:59Z")
> [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > EXAMPLE: Marijuana is relatively easy and cheap to grow. Even if it were heavily taxed, it would be cheaper than it is now simply because there would be no risk of prison in growing/selling it. So? If it suddently because legal to grow large quantities, I’m not personally going to jump on the chance to do so. Growing a large amount of the plants isn’t an easy business. And if I take the half-assed approach, I’m just going to end up with a product that doesn’t demand a high price anyway, same as now, shit product gets a low price. ---
**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 30, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/70 "2012-03-30T01:39:54Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I’m still waiting for them to send me the details of where they meet. I’ve got them. I’ll send them to you sometime. Eventually. Really. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/71 "2012-03-30T22:40:10Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > …At a glance, it sounds like maybe a lot of robberies consist of a quiet demand note in a customer line, with hardly anybody aware of what’s happening. Just be sure that you use good penmanship on your demand note when you claim you’re armed. ---
**Author:** ![steveo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@steveo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steveo1)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/72 "2012-03-30T23:08:45Z")
Hello? If they didn’t rob banks then they wouldn’t be bank robbers. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355/73 "2012-03-30T23:15:09Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > So? If it suddently because legal to grow large quantities, I’m not personally going to jump on the chance to do so. Growing a large amount of the plants isn’t an easy business. And if I take the half-assed approach, I’m just going to end up with a product that doesn’t demand a high price anyway, same as now, shit product gets a low price. Since you’re not personally going to, we can conclude that hardly anyone would. For that to happen, we’d need an occupation that specializes in growing a large amount of plants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bank-robbers-rob-banks/583355.md?page=3)