Bank Robberies, The New Black

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Sep 22, 2006 5:28PM

From cross-dressing bank robbers to little old ladies, bank robberies are on the rise. The Chicago Tribune reports 206 bank robberies in Chicagoland so far this year. We'll make it to about 280 robberies, past the 2005 record high of 240, if the current rate keeps up.

The amazing convenience of having a bank on every corner of the city (and 3 or 4 at some CTA stops, *cough North and Clybourne cough cough*) is slightly offset by perceived danger associated with the increased frequency of robberies. We blame the rise in robberies squarely on this overabundance of banking locations. The battle for the personal banking accounts of Chicagoans rages between several big banks and the local Midwestern companies who many long time customers refuse to desert. From Citibank to Bank One, to Chase, Washington Mutual, LaSalle Bank, Wells Fargo, National City, and North Community to name a few, the mushroom like growth of ATM and branch locations is astounding.

We for one don't anticipate this rise in crime to slow down the march of the aforementioned banks to total market saturation. The average bank heist nets a paltry $4800 according to the US Census Bureau. The relative certainty of taking a trip to pound me in the you know where prison makes robbing a bank a very unattractive proposition. So tell all of your friends it's really not a good idea.

Check out the bank robberies in your neighbourhood on chicagocrime.org!

Image via Tony Wu.

Thanks, Sean!