Where The Money Is: Philadelphia Has A Busy Stretch In A Slow Town For Bank Robbery

John P. Martin at the Philadelphia Inquirer offers a piece on the upswing of bank robberies in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia has never really been a bank-robbery town.

Some cities have that reputation, deserved or not. Think Los Angeles, home to spectacularly violent heists, a region that once logged 2,600 bank robberies in a year.

Philadelphia bandits are not known for flash or firepower, even smarts. Many are drug addicts, clumsily picking targets in their own neighborhoods, hiding under a cap or hoodie, and brandishing nothing more than a nasty note.

Most get caught.

Still, last week was an unusually busy stretch in an unusually busy season for unauthorized withdrawals. Robbers hit five city banks in six days, upping the total to 14 in barely a month. After fewer than 75 attempts each of the last two years, it seemed like a surge.

FBI Special Agent John Kitzinger and Philadelphia Police Lt. Joseph Del Grippo see the stretch as part of the ebb and flow of crime. But the men, supervisors on the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, say the uptick is peculiar, even confounding.

There is no serial robber, organized crew, or clear pattern. Only one suspect has been identified.
Still, last week was an unusually busy stretch in an unusually busy season for unauthorized withdrawals. Robbers hit five city banks in six days, upping the total to 14 in barely a month.

After fewer than 75 attempts each of the last two years, it seemed like a surge.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130217_Recent_robbery_suspects.html