DON’T ‘BANK’ ON IT
Heist busts way up; 86% of cases solved
Bank robbers might want to look for a new line of work.
Authorities have solved bank heists 86 percent of the time this year, up from a “clearance rate” of 79 percent in 2015-2016.
There have been 91 bank robberies in the city from Jan. 1 to Aug. 13, a 20 percent drop from the same period last year, when Willie Sutton wannabes struck 114 times, according to FBI data.
The FBI/NYPD Joint Violent Crimes Task Force made 87 bank-robbery arrests so far this year, up from 77 for the same period last year.
But it’s not because bank bandits are getting dumber.
“Technology has allowed the banks to provide a variety of different defenses to bank robberies,” Michael Osborn, assistant special agent in charge of the unit, told The Post.
Motion sensors, surveillance cameras, silent teller alarms, window monitors that detect shattered glass, exploding dye packs and GPS tracking devices tucked inside the stolen loot are among the first lines of defense.
“The FBI and NYPD are collaborating on all levels to maximize resources dedicated to bank-robbery investigations,” Osborn said. “We are proactive in collecting and analyzing intel- ligence, and then sharing the information with area banks.”
Osborn said bank robbers can range from criminals in dire financial straits to drug users looking for a quick fix. Even MMA fighters — like Sergio daSilva, who was pinched two weeks ago after allegedly robbing $46,000 on Aug. 24 from a Queens Citibank — have joined the heist parade.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD detective sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, called bank robbery a “losing proposition.”
“With all the technology out there helping cops solve bank robberies, one would have to ask, why are they still trying?” Giacalone said. “It might point to a more nefarious reason, the opioid addiction crisis.”
Giacalone added: “People still think that banks have hundreds of thousands stuffed in tiny drawers by the tellers. Here’s a news flash for would-be robbers: they don’t.”
FBI Agent Kevin Ponder said the bank jobs “run the gamut” from “sophisticated” strikes to a bungling amateur who passed a note to a teller “with his real name on the deposit slip.”
In July, a “very bad bank robber” from New Jersey allegedly tried to hold up three Manhattan banks over a two-day period, but came up empty each time.
The first failed attempt came July 18 at a Bank of America branch on Delancey Street, when he passed a note to a teller demanding big bills “or you will get shot.” The unfazed teller locked her drawer and walked away, police said.
The next morning, the thief targeted a Chase Bank on Delancey and passed a note threatening he had a gun, but the teller went to speak to a manager. The third time was not the charm: He came away from a Citibank near Astor Place without a cent, police said.
Cops arrested Richard Callison, 22, on July 19 and charged him in the three botched heists.