N.Y. Seeks New Ways to Foil an Old Crime: Bank Heists

Top police officials and representatives of the city’s financial institutions are scheduled to meet today to consider fresh strategies to fight an old crime -- bank robbery.

The conference is fueled by some disturbing statistics: As of April 13, there had been 159 holdups this year, compared with 57 during the same period last year. Police say that if robberies continue at the current rate, New York’s 2003 total easily would exceed the 250 reported last year. Nationwide, bank robberies are also on an upswing.

The bank robberies come at a time when the city is suffering its worst fiscal crisis since the 1970s and the police department is stretched thin. New York has been on constant elevated alert since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center -- diverting officers and resources traditionally focused on other crimes.

Law enforcement officials said several factors appear to be contributing to the robbery renaissance.

“One is the economy. You have got more people looking for ways of making money -- legally or illegally,” said Manhattan Dist. Atty. Robert M. Morgenthau, who has proposed a public safety surtax on people working in New York to counter proposed cuts in law enforcement budgets.

And the banks are “much more open than they used to be,” he added. “There is much less security in the banks.

“The police department is strained to the limit.”

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly has criticized some bankers for not updating their security systems and instead considering robberies simply a cost of doing business. He said surveillance cameras that recycle videotape often do not provide usable images of robbers. The problem has been made worse, Kelly said, by financial institutions remaining open for longer hours.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg also has urged banks to update and better maintain their systems.

Karen Jannetty, a spokeswoman for the New York Bankers Assn., described the meeting -- which will include Kelly and senior bank executives -- as the beginning of a renewed dialogue.

“We are at the start of a process,” she said. “Efforts to enhance or improve security are constant in our industry.”

The vast majority of New York City bank robberies are hardly the stuff of Hollywood scripts.

Statistics show that the amounts taken during most holdups range from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars -- the sum a teller can hand over quickly. Crowded streets, especially in Manhattan, aid in escapes.

Most robbers, officials said, merely pass threatening notes. In only 55 of the cases last year were weapons displayed. And when arrests are made, the motive commonly is financial desperation or a desire to buy drugs.

Some security experts said the absence of a once-traditional sight in banks -- uniformed, armed guards near the tellers’ counters -- adds to the impression that holdups carry few risks.

“Banks have made the decision to cut back on guards and give the robbers generally smaller amounts of cash,” said Mark Lerner, president of EPIC Security Corp., which specializes in providing armed and unarmed guards.

He said some banks have stationed guards after hours in areas containing ATMs -- not only to protect against criminals but also to discourage the homeless from seeking shelter.

“The guards are paid for by more people using the ATM,” Lerner explained. “It justifies the cost because there is increased business.”

Lerner said some people have discovered that it is safer to hold up banks than it is to try to rob convenience stores protected by guards in poor neighborhoods.

“It’s a crime of choice for people who need a quick shot of a few thousand dollars,” he said of bank robbers.

“Usually, they are caught after a number of times.”