The Chicago Bank Robbery Initiative - includes related article on closed-circuit TV systems

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, April, 1997 by Paul Carroll, Ronald John Loch

The offenders unanimously stated that the presence of a uniformed security guard would have deterred them from targeting a particular financial institution. Likewise, they all were aware of the steps that banks take to help police catch bank robbers, such as including bait money and dye packs with the cash surrendered during a robbery. When the subjects committed their offenses, they specifically instructed the tellers not to include these items.

Each of the offenders interviewed believed that bank tellers were trained not to resist during a robbery but to surrender money without hesitation. This may explain in part why most bank robbers do not believe it is necessary to display a firearm during the commission of a robbery.

All of the subjects revealed that one of their primary concerns was being trapped by police inside a bank. Therefore, the subjects devoted the majority of their pre-robbery planning to devising an escape route. If subjects used a getaway vehicle, they either parked their vehicle a considerable distance from the facility and walked to it after the robbery, or they used a stolen car to drive to their own vehicle.

Either way, they were careful to park their own vehicles in a location that would not draw attention--generally in another parking lot or in a residential area where other vehicles were parked. The offenders believed that the transient nature of pedestrian traffic in business districts would make it difficult for law enforcement to locate witnesses outside of the bank.

Financial Institutions

Security inspections revealed that closed-circuit television (CCTV) has become the preferred surveillance device of many area financial institutions. The increased use of CCTV followed a 1991 decision by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, the Bureau of the Controller, and the Federal Home Bank Board--the four governing bodies that administer federal financial security regulations--to relax regulations relating to photographic security.

The original regulations, as set forth in the Bank Protection Act of 1968, required that federally insured financial institutions maintain "... one or more photographic, recording, monitoring or like devices capable of reproducing images of persons in the banking office with sufficient clarity to facilitate ... the identification and apprehension of robbers or other suspicious persons."(4) The revised regulations only require financial institutions to "... establish procedures that will assist in identifying persons committing crimes against the bank and that will preserve evidence that may aid in their identification and prosecution. Such procedures may include, but are not limited to: retaining a record of any robbery, burglary, or larceny committed against the bank; maintaining a camera that records activity in the banking office; add using identification devices, such as pre-recorded serial-numbered bills or chemical and electronic devices."(5)

While CCTV meets the standard of the new regulations, still photography (35 or 70mm) offers superior reproduction capabilities. When investigators reviewed and analyzed surveillance films from CCTV systems in use during robberies, they quickly noted the poor quality of the images.