Bank robberies decrease in 2011, says FBI

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The number of crimes committed against banks decreased nearly 10 percent between 2010 and 2011, according to the FBI's new bank crime statistics.

In 2011, there were 5,093 bank crimes reported to law enforcement officials, according to the FBI. That includes 5,014 bank robberies, 60 burglaries, 12 larcenies and seven extortions of financial institutions. That's a 9.7-percent drop from the 5,641 bank crimes reported in 2010.

Of those 5,086 bank robberies, burglaries and larcenies, criminals got away with loot during 4,534 of the incidents, or 89 percent of the time, the FBI says.

The total amount of loss reported by the banks? More than $38 million.

The amount recovered and returned to financial institutions? Only $8 million, meaning financial institutions lost approximately $30 million.

The FBI also tracks the security devices at use in effected financial institutions. Surveillance cameras were in use by 98.9 percent of the victim institutions, but those cameras were activated in only 98 percent of cases. Alarm systems were in use by 97.6 percent of the institutions, but were only activated in 91.7 percent of cases. Tear gas and dye packs were in use by 24 percent of victim institutions, but in only 38.6 percent of cases involving banks that had them to use were the devices taken during the crimes. For more statistics on the use of bait money, guards and electronic tracking, view the full FBI report.

Financial institutions in metropolitan areas were targeted most often (46 percent), followed by those in small cities or towns (34 percent) and those in suburban areas (18 percent).

Violence was used by bank criminals nearly four percent of the time (201 of the 5,086 robberies, burglaries or larcenies involved violence). The violence involved 70 instances of discharged firearms, 116 assaults, and one instance of the use of an explosive device. The violence resulted in 13 deaths, 88 injuries, and 30 people being held hostage, the FBI reports.

Bank robbers like to work on Friday, the day of the week during which most crimes occured. Regardless of the day, the most common time for a bank robbery were between the hours of 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Most bank crimes (nearly 31 percent) occurred in the South.

For more information, view the full FBI report.