The FBI just released its fourth-quarter robbery data for banks and credit unions. Rather than wait for the FBI to tabulate four quarters and publish its findings, The Financial Brand added it all up and broke it all down for you.
Total bank and credit union robberies down 11.4%
2006 – 6,675
2007 – 5,917
Bank robberies down 11%
2006 – 6,154
2007 – 5,468
Credit union robberies down 14%
2006 – 521
2007 – 449
Injuries occur in 1.3% of all robberies
2006 – 94 incidents
2007 – 74 incidents
Employees are the most likely to be injured
2006 – 75 employees injured
2007 – 49 employees injured
Number of robberies in which deaths occurred
2006 – 13
2007 – 16
Robber is the most likely one to die
2006 – 10 robbers of 13 people killed
2007 – 12 robbers of 18 people killed
The data serves as a reminder that there are ways to engineer safe branch environments without creating “fortresses.” In the comments of The Financial Brand’s previous coverage of the FBI’s 2006 robbery data, Brett Conway of EHS Design suggested checking out SafeCatch, a branch design solution that minimizes risk of robbery. If your branches have security features like bullet-proof glass, you should definitely give it a look.
SafeCatch gets into robber psychology, recommending that front doors should not be visible from the transaction area because robbers always want to keep an eye on their exits. Good point.
The downloadable PDF includes a sample floor plan.
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FBI’S OFFICIAL DATA ON BANK & CREDIT UNION ROBBERIES FOR 2007
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Here’s the basic raw data for 2007, as compiled by The Financial Brand.
Total number of robberies: 5917
Bank robberies: 5468
Credit union robberies: 449
INJURIES:
Number of incidents in which injuries occurred: 74
Customer: 21
Employee: 49
Employee Family: 2
Perpetrator: 10
Law Officer: 1
Guard: 4
Other: 4
DEATHS:
Number of incidents in which deaths occurred: 16
Customer: 0
Employee: 3
Employee Family: 0
Perpetrator: 12
Law Officer: 2
Guard: 1
Other: 0
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