THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 19, 1995 TAG: 9512190291
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Bank robberies continued their downward trend in North Carolina in 1995, falling to just 142 with two weeks left in the year, FBI agent John Morley said Monday.
``Make no mistake about it, bank robberies are dumb crimes,'' he told a news conference in Charlotte, where he was joined by officials from two bank industry groups. Famed bank robber ``Willie Sutton was wrong when he said he robbed banks because that's where the money was.''
The average amount of cash taken in a bank robbery is less than $2,000, Morley said.
``For that, you stand a 75 percent chance of getting caught,'' he said. ``When you are caught, you're likely going to spend the next 20 years in prison.''
Since 1992 - when North Carolina had a record 339 bank robberies - the number has dropped 58 percent, Morley said. Last year, there were 173 bank heists, down from 243 in 1993.
``In 1993, North Carolina was third in the entire country behind Los Angeles and San Francisco,'' Morley said, referring to FBI jurisdictions. ``I'd be willing to bet the 58 percent drop was the best in the country.''
Bankers and law enforcement officials attribute the improvement to better cooperation by police agencies, tougher sentencing by the courts and improvements in training for bank employees.
``Our primary concern is the safety of our staff and our customers,'' said James McGill of the 1st State Savings Bank in Burlington. He represented the Community Bankers Association of North Carolina.
``We don't want any heroes trying to stop bank robbers,'' he said.
McGill and Todd Rasar of the North Carolina Bankers Association gave out the details of recent unsolved bank heists, some of them committed by the same individual.
Rasar is security operations manager at First Union Corp. in Charlotte.
Up until 1993, the state was contending with a new record each year. In 1991 there were 278 bank robberies, compared with 197 in 1990 and 165 in 1989.
Morley praised the state's banking industry for dealing with the problem. For several years, banks have worked with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to improve training for tellers and other employees.
``I'd rather be an FBI agent than a bank teller,'' Morley said. ``They could be looking into the barrel of a gun, something I may never have to do in my job.''
Despite his concerns, no bank employee or customer has been killed during a bank robbery in North Carolina in at least three years, said Mark Rozzi, an FBI agent from Charlotte who specializes in bank robberies.
The state's banks have put together a toll-free hot line offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone robbing a North Carolina bank.
The number of bank robbery cases that are solved in North Carolina stands at 75 percent. That's about 20 points higher than the national average, Rozzi said.
Morley said the progress was encouraging.
``I think the word is getting out that you're going to get caught,'' he said. ``This is not brain surgery. Smart people don't rob banks.'' by CNB