Bank Holdups in O.C., Region Drop Sharply

Bank holdups in Southern California dipped last year to the lowest level in 20 years, but the region still kept its title as bank robbery capital of the nation.

FBI figures released Monday show there were 749 bank robberies in the seven-county area, a third fewer than in 1996, when 1,126 cases were reported.

In Orange County, bank robberies dropped 21%, from 183 in 1996 to 144 last year, well below a high of 309 in 1992.

In Los Angeles County, the drop was a more dramatic 47%, while San Bernardino County bucked the trend with an increase of 66% and Riverside County was up 15%.

Overall, bank robberies in Southern California have been edging downward since 1992. A record-breaking 2,641 bank robberies took place that year in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The 1997 figures represent a 72% decline from that peak.

Timothy P. McNally, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, attributed the decline to measures taken by banks, arrests of serial bank bandits, longer prison sentences for criminals and better cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

“When I started out, there would be guys we would investigate, arrest and put in jail and then we’d see them again, doing the same thing,” said Special Agent Tim White of the FBI’s Santa Ana office. “Now that rarely happens.”

White and others in law enforcement said the bank industry made a concerted effort in the 1990s to make their branches less attractive targets.

State-of-the-art surveillance equipment, bulletproof “bandit barriers,” increased use of marked bait money and other measures have put a thicket of complications in the path of robbers.

But, McNally cautioned, “FBI and local law enforcement officials are still not ready to claim victory. There is a lot of work ahead to bring this problem under control.”

Southern California continued to chalk up the most bank robberies in the country, easily eclipsing the New York City area, which had 286 heists last year.

The contrast is largely explained by the nature of banking in Southern California. Despite downsizing, mergers and consolidations, no region has a branch banking system as extensive as Southern California’s, creating more targets of opportunity for bandits.

So notorious is Southern California that the Los Angeles FBI field office used to include the sardonic motto “Bank Robbery Capital of the World” on its fax cover sheets.

McNally noted a troubling year-to-year increase in takeover robberies at Southern California financial institutions.

One-third, or 233, of all bank robberies in 1997 involved violent takeovers. That constituted a 5% increase over the previous year. Six employees or customers were shot during the commission of those crimes, compared to just one in 1996, the FBI said.

In Orange County, 26 takeover robberies occurred last year, up six from the year before.

“Those are the most concerning, the ones that are the most violent and troubling,” White said.

In one takeover in April, bank teller Monica Leech, a 39-year-old mother of two, was handcuffed and executed by bandits in Thousand Oaks. Although investigators say they have made progress in the case, no arrests have been made.

Still, takeover robberies in 1997 represented a 48% decline from the high in 1992.

Perhaps the most notorious bank robbery attempt occurred in February when two bandits, clad in black protective gear and armed with automatic weapons, botched a takeover at a North Hollywood bank branch. Ten Los Angeles Police Department officers were wounded before SWAT team members felled the robbers.

Times staff writer Geoff Boucher contributed to this report.

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Don’t Bank on It

Bank robberies in Orange County dropped more than 50% from 1992 to 1997, while the number of takeover holdups, in which robbers enter banks brandishing guns, has increased since an all-time low in 1994:

All bank robberies

(graph)

Takeover robberies

(graph)

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While bank robberies have declined significantly in Orange County since 1993, the decrease in surrounding counties has been even more pronounced:

County: 1993-97 Decrease

Los Angeles: 62%

Orange: 36

Riverside: 52

San Bernardino: 41

San Diego: 51

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation