The Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- City police have investigated 16 bank robberies so far this year, more than double the bank holdups reported last year and reflecting a national increase, authorities say.
Syracuse had seven bank robberies in 2002.
“Police departments all over the country are seeing the trend,” police spokesman Sgt. Tom Connellan told The Post-Standard. “It’s a relatively easy crime of opportunity.”
The Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department has handled five bank robberies this year, compared with none last year, Sgt. John D’Eredita said.
John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, said the national increase mirrors the long-slumping economy. “When you have a slow economy you often have more people out of work,” he said.
Of the 16 Syracuse robberies, eight cases have been closed with arrests, Connellan said. “A lot of times we are able to get good photos of these people and they do it multiple times,” he said.
Preventive measures by banks include surveillance equipment, silent alarms and dye packs attached to cash or money bags. The most common robbery involves a threatening note passed to a teller, with the robbery often done quickly and silently, Connellan said.
The FBI says 95 percent of bank robbers are men. At least four of the Syracuse-area holdups were done by women. On Nov. 28, 47-year-old Marie Cluley, of Clay, was arrested and accused of three.