the crime report

The nation’s banks lost $46 million last year in holdups. What are they doing wrong?

At a time when bank surveillance cameras produce portrait-quality images and tellers can attach GPS tracking devices to stolen money, you might think robbing a bank offers slim hope of success.

Think again. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tallied almost 6,000 bank heists around the U.S. last year—more than 16 a day―with robbers making off with a total of $46 million. Worse still, only about half the perpetrators have been caught, and about $8 million was recovered. In just over half of the cases, robbers wrote a threatening note demanding money but didn’t display a weapon.

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The Justice Department is investigating whether hundreds of FBI agents cheated on a test of new rules allowing the bureau to conduct surveillance and open cases without evidence that a crime has been committed, reports the Associated Press. In some instances, agents took the open-book test together, violating rules that they take it alone. Others finished the lengthy exam unusually quickly, current and former officials said. (more…)

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The FBI will equip its agents with debit cards to pay expenses, like informant payments, and is exploring how to automate requests for telephone records and use voice recognition software so that agents can dictate their interview notes, reports MainJustice.com. The changes are an effort to increase the efficiency and productivity of agents as part of a strategic planning initiative by director Robert Mueller to modernize how the bureau manages its resources. (more…)

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Some experts warned that crime rates might not continue to drop even though the FBI reported a third consecutive year of falling crime reports despite the recession. “It’s fabulous news, but I would draw an analogy to global warming: Even if you believe the long-term trend is increasing temperatures, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a cold year,” Jonathan Caulkins of Carnegie Mellon University told the Associated Press. (more…)