4 ms·

>The predicted loss of a bank robbery is high four figures. Having worked as a bank teller, that figure is much, much lower. Often they'll only get away with a

>The predicted loss of a bank robbery is high four figures. Having worked as a bank teller, that figure is much, much lower. Often they'll only get away with a couple of hundred dollars. Otherwise you're right. I think a lot of people still have the romantic picture of Bonnie & Clyde or Hollywood style movies like Heat. The reality is that bank robbers nowadays are idiots. They're high on crack or otherwise don't know what they're doing. They are dumb. All bank robberies are investigated by the FBI, and these guys get caught. This isn't just fear for the customers or perception, it's a dangerous situation where the loss is really not that great. Meanwhile a teller that tries to act like a hero could get himself or others shot, over a couple of hundred dollars.

patio11 14y ago
Having worked as a bank teller, that figure is much, much lower. So this claim surprised me -- I'm always willing to be wrong, but didn't think I was here -- so I went bouncing around in my backfiles to find the statistic I had quoted off the cuff. It turns out, after following a few citations in papers, that the FBI keeps fairly accessible info on this. http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-statistics-2011/bank-crime-statistics-2011 http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-st... $7.5k per incident, give or take.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  That is a fascinating set of stats - thank you :-) * No-one gets up early on a Monday to rob a bank, * 1 in 10 bank robberies leave without a penny - one in ten ! * Perps die a lot more than anyone else. * They only identify (catch?) 50% - but incredibly 95% of robbers can have their race identified (doesn't anyone wear masks anymore?) * There is a high number (78% of those caught) of first time bank robbers. (Then again that might be obvious) Well they can all go on my list of things I did not know yesterday.
  - chc 14y ago
    > They only identify (catch?) 50% - but incredibly 95% of robbers can have their race identified (doesn't anyone wear masks anymore?) A ski mask or similar does not necessarily obscure all racially identifying characteristics (e.g. you can see skin color, eye color, eye shape and often pick up the gist of bone structure — as well as hear their voice if they speak).
  - michaelbuckbee 14y ago
    WRT masks and race there was a really interesting bank robbery where the robber obscured his race with a latex special effects mask and sunglasses. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/white-bank-robber-changes-race-216652 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/white-bank-robber-chang... Interesting that even with those precautions he was still caught.
- isleyaardvark 14y ago
  I was going to say something about the median being fairly lower, but looking through those stats and seeing only 215 vault robberies versus 4,870 robberies at the counter, I'm less confident that it is significantly lower. I believe I stand corrected. It may have been just my region, or my supervisors may have simply been mistaken.
- greyboy 14y ago
  In the bank I worked at they would get almost nothing useful - unless the exploding dye packs failed.
lotharbot 14y ago
> "The reality is that bank robbers nowadays are idiots" Once when I was getting off the bus, a police car pulled up right in front of us, 3 more police cars pulled in behind the bus, and even more were approaching. The police pulled a guy off the bus and took a roll of cash out of his pocket and put it into an evidence bag. I found out later from the girl who'd been sitting next to him that the police asked him if he'd just robbed a bank and he confessed right there on the bus. One of my bus driver friends told me it's common enough that they have a procedure for bank robberies -- their dispatch phone rings, they listen to a description of the bank robber, and if he's on their bus they call back with some sort of code word. Of course, the robbers think they're being oh-so-clever getting onto a city bus, because nobody would ever guess that's your getaway car.

patio11 14y ago

Having worked as a bank teller, that figure is much, much lower. So this claim surprised me -- I'm always willing to be wrong, but didn't think I was here -- so I went bouncing around in my backfiles to find the statistic I had quoted off the cuff. It turns out, after following a few citations in papers, that the FBI keeps fairly accessible info on this. http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-statistics-2011/bank-crime-statistics-2011 http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/bank-crime-st... $7.5k per incident, give or take.

lifeisstillgood 14y ago
That is a fascinating set of stats - thank you :-) * No-one gets up early on a Monday to rob a bank, * 1 in 10 bank robberies leave without a penny - one in ten ! * Perps die a lot more than anyone else. * They only identify (catch?) 50% - but incredibly 95% of robbers can have their race identified (doesn't anyone wear masks anymore?) * There is a high number (78% of those caught) of first time bank robbers. (Then again that might be obvious) Well they can all go on my list of things I did not know yesterday.
- chc 14y ago
  > They only identify (catch?) 50% - but incredibly 95% of robbers can have their race identified (doesn't anyone wear masks anymore?) A ski mask or similar does not necessarily obscure all racially identifying characteristics (e.g. you can see skin color, eye color, eye shape and often pick up the gist of bone structure — as well as hear their voice if they speak).
- michaelbuckbee 14y ago
  WRT masks and race there was a really interesting bank robbery where the robber obscured his race with a latex special effects mask and sunglasses. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/white-bank-robber-changes-race-216652 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/white-bank-robber-chang... Interesting that even with those precautions he was still caught.
isleyaardvark 14y ago
I was going to say something about the median being fairly lower, but looking through those stats and seeing only 215 vault robberies versus 4,870 robberies at the counter, I'm less confident that it is significantly lower. I believe I stand corrected. It may have been just my region, or my supervisors may have simply been mistaken.
greyboy 14y ago
In the bank I worked at they would get almost nothing useful - unless the exploding dye packs failed.

lotharbot 14y ago

> "The reality is that bank robbers nowadays are idiots" Once when I was getting off the bus, a police car pulled up right in front of us, 3 more police cars pulled in behind the bus, and even more were approaching. The police pulled a guy off the bus and took a roll of cash out of his pocket and put it into an evidence bag. I found out later from the girl who'd been sitting next to him that the police asked him if he'd just robbed a bank and he confessed right there on the bus. One of my bus driver friends told me it's common enough that they have a procedure for bank robberies -- their dispatch phone rings, they listen to a description of the bank robber, and if he's on their bus they call back with some sort of code word. Of course, the robbers think they're being oh-so-clever getting onto a city bus, because nobody would ever guess that's your getaway car.