Chicago Breaks Robbery Record

By vouchey in News on Dec 15, 2005 8:32PM

We're not proud, but man we are facinated with bank robberies in Chicago this year. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Chicago was on pace to shatter the 1995 record of 195 robberies. On December 2nd, we did that.

Local media has been tracking the robberies daily, with today's count at 212, according to an NPR report Chicagoist heard this morning. The robbery spree isn't limited to just particular Chicago banks. The pictures at left come from bank cameras at 935 W. Armitage and 29 E. Madison.

And it's not just in Chicago either. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports a rash of robberies in the Twin Cities (89 so far) and that the FBI is calling it a nationwide problem. Every 29 minutes a bank is hit.

There's plenty of ideas why it's happening now -- during a national ebb in crime. Ideas range from the national explosion in small neighborhood banks, copycat syndrome, even as an indicator of the declining national economy.

Either way, everyone knows bank robbers are dopes. Between the cameras (see left), dye packets and limited cash kept by tellers, banks are a terrible place to rob without getting caught. Now if you really want to get rich, the place to do it is to rob Nakatomi Industries and take all of their German Bearer Bonds.