Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 17, 1992 TAG: 9202170077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
ROBBERIES OF BANKS SOARING
From Atlanta to Anchorage, from Seattle to St. Paul, bank robberies were epidemic last year. Authorities blame drugs, hard times and a new breed of banks that are easy marks.Though the nationwide total hasn't been tallied yet, it's expected to top the bank-robbery record of 7,837 set in 1990, FBI officials said.
Eight of the nation's 15 largest metropolitan areas reported a surge in bank heists. Several smaller cities also set records.
Some cities - New York, San Francisco and Boston, among them - saw a decline. But Los Angeles had 810 stickups, by far the highest total of any city in the country, breaking the record of 742 set in 1983. Holdups in Atlanta more than doubled, to 247 from 109 in 1990, and rose in Chicago from 59 to 95.
"It's a relatively easy crime to commit and it can be quite profitable," said Magnus Seng, a criminal justice professor at Loyola University Chicago. "Unlike robbing a grocery store where you usually get only a couple of hundred bucks, you're usually walking away with money at least in the thousands."
And for drug addicts, that money is a great temptation.
"We've got an increasing drug problem, and we're finding that a primary consideration in almost all our robberies," said Carmen Piccirillo, who heads the FBI bank robbery unit for Minnesota. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area logged 73 bank robberies last year, breaking the record of 69 set in 1981.
Three out of five arrested bank robbery suspects have tested positive for drug use, said Bob Long, FBI spokesman for the Chicago area.
Law enforcers and bankers also say they believe robberies may be increasing because more people are jobless and desperate.
"When you go through so-called hard times, it seems that crime may take an increase but there aren't any statistics to back that up," Long said.
The growth of branch banking also is a contributing factor, police and the FBI said. Branch banks, particularly in California, have proved attractive targets because they generally are spread throughout suburbs, have little security and often are located near highways, aiding fast getaways.
After Illinois changed its laws to allow more branch banks, the number of robberies skyrocketed compared to the rest of the Midwest, Seng said.
Still, bank robbery remains a high-risk crime. Three out of four bank robbers are caught, and they face up to 25 years in federal prison for armed robbery, a few years less if unarmed.