Heist City

Tempting targets in L.A.

More movies are made around Los Angeles, of course, than anywhere else in the U.S. More Mercedes-Benzes are sold there than in any other American city, more guacamole is served, more tans are perfectly maintained. Also, more banks are robbed there, many more. Last fiscal year in Los Angeles and its environs there were 1,720 bank heists, compared with 546 in San Francisco, the country's second-place stick-'em-up city, 443 in New York City, 132 in Baltimore and just 56 in Chicago. Indeed, nearly one out of three U.S.

bank robberies takes place in the seven-county purview of the FBI'S Los Angeles office. The last day without a bank holdup was Oct. 4,1979. Says Lieutenant Joe Patterson of the Los Angeles County sheriffs robbery squad: 'The word is out on the street, in jail, among junkies: 'Hey, man, if you're hurting, go to the bank.' " Even as bank robberies are generally declining in the U.S. (down 11% during the first half of 1983), they are growing more rampant in Los Angeles (up 18% last year). The Friday before Christmas set a new daily record: 21 banks robbed.

One reason is that Southern California just has a great many banks to rob, about 3,000 outlets by the FBI'S reckoning. In addition, as the song says, L.A. is a great big freeway: the vast road system makes getaways easier. Still, the FBI says three-fourths of Los Angeles' bank robberies are solved. Bad odds for the crooks, but rational analysis is not the strong suit of drug addicts, who the FBI believes are responsible for some 70% of the crimes.

The banks have been reluctant to take defensive measures. Says Robert Brosio, the U.S. Attorney's chief prosecutor:

"The banks are so open and available, it's an invitation to robbery. They have been seriously negligent in construction and design." For instance, bullet-resistant "bandit barriers," common in other large cities, are scarce in mellow Los Angeles.

"You need a warm, inviting place to do business," explains Stephen Ward, security director for the Crocker Bank. Nor are more secure designs necessarily worth the cost: for all the heists, the banks lose only $4 million a year to robbers, or an untroubling average of around $1,300 per branch. The public, of course, picks up the cost of apprehending, prosecuting and jailing the robbers.

Some of the robbers are rather intriguing. Last year's "Yankee Bandit," so called for the New York Yankees baseball cap he wore during his robberies, invariably broke into a broad smile as he left with his loot. He robbed 55 banks in six months for a total take of $190,000.

Not long after an astonishing six heists on one November day, he apparently retired--or changed hats.