Chief asks banks to 'harden target' and improve saftey
Published on July 19th, 2000
Stoneham, MA - Banks in Stoneham have a propensity for getting robbed.
Robbers have visited Main Street banks three times in the past year, and bank officials want to know where the cops are.
Police Chief Passaro has some advice for the banks: "Harden the target."
According to John Trahon, Supervisor of the FBI Bank Robbery Task Force, 213 banks were robbed in the Greater Boston area in 1999, and projections indicate another 200 robberies for 2000.
With a 41 member police force, two fewer than in 1981, Stoneham's finest are stretched thin.
Some bank officials wonder about police details.
"There always seem to be enough cops for details," a bank executive mused.
In fact, a group of local banks funded a detail for several months. Then it stopped. Then a bank was robbed.
Passaro says the town cannot subsidize a bank detail because such a policy would be unfair; all the other businesses would scream what about us. The Chief also said robberies could happen with details in place, during shifts.
"It only takes 90 seconds to rob a bank," Passaro said.
But the Chief thinks the solution is as easy as... well, as easy as robbing a Stoneham bank:
One, cameras at eye level, not angling down from the ceiling. This way descriptions will be of faces not hats. Two, bullet proof glass. And three, deal trays in which money passes under the glass between teller and customer.
"You have to take away the ability for someone to take control," Passaro said.
Trahon said higher quality cameras and a live feed monitor on which customers can see themselves are good deterrents.
"When you look up and see yourself, you know they have your picture," Trahon said.
Some people say this technology can be obtrusive.
"The cameras and glass might antagonize a few customers but not as much as being in the bank when it gets robbed," Passaro said.
The Chief urges bank executives to install safety measures for the benefit of customers and employees of local banks.
"It will cost money, but again, so does getting robbed," Passaro said.
Trahon said one effective deterrent doesn't cost anything.
"If banks put one of their employees out on the floor greeting customers, shaking hands and making eye contact, the bad guys don't like that," Trahon said.
The FBI catches around 60 to 70 percent of the bank robbers in the Greater Boston area in the first year, more with time, according to Trahon.
Out of respect for those working in local banks no bank names were used.
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