Bank robbery
From Free net encyclopedia
Bank robbery is the crime of robbing a bank. It is usually accomplished by a solitary criminal who brandishes a firearm at a teller and demands money, either orally or through a written note. The most dangerous type of bank robbery is a takeover robbery in which several heavily armed (and armored) gang members threaten the lives of everyone present in the bank.
The first bank robbery in the United States took place on March 19, 1831, and was committed by Edward Smith who stole $245,000 from the City Bank on Wall Street in New York City. He was eventually arrested, convicted, and sentenced to five years in Sing Sing prison.
During the American Civil War, raiders from both Union and Confederate armies would rob banks in enemy-controlled towns. These robberies were at the time regarded as legitimate acts of war, but many of the raiders carried on robbing banks in the post-war era, giving rise to the famous robber gangs of the late 19th century.
Due to modern security measures like security cameras, well-armed security guards, silent alarms, exploding dye packs, and SWAT teams, bank robberies are now rarely successful. Few criminals are able to make a successful living out of bank robbery over the long run, since each attempt increases the probability that they will be identified and caught. Today most organized crime groups tend to make their money by other means, such as drug trafficking, identity theft, or online scamming and phishing. However, bank robberies are still fairly common and are sometimes successful, although eventually most bank robbers are found and arrested. A report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation [1] states that the rate of clearance by arrest for bank robbery in 2001 was second only to that of murder.
Ever since the "glory days" of the great bank robberies during the 19th century, bank robberies have become ingrained into American popular culture. Numerous films, books, and songs have been written about the crime, and is the crime of choice for villains everywhere in comic books, pulp adventure and crime stories, and even cartoons.
Films about bank robbery
- Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- The Italian Job (1969)
- Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
- Fun With Dick And Jane (1977)
- BMX Bandits (1983)
- Point Break (1991)
- The Real McCoy (1993)
- Trapped In Paradise (1994)
- Heat (1995)
- Set it off (1996)
- Out of Sight (1998)
- The Newton Boys (1998)
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
- Bandits (2001)
- Sugar & Spice (2001)
- Road to Perdition (2002)
- 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)
- The Postcard Bandit (2003)
- Firewall (2006)
- Inside Man (2006)