NAME
THAT BANK ROBBER
Catchy Monikers Help Nab Culprits
06/25/07
 |
The "Ponytail
Bandit" is wanted for
bank robberies in Texas,
California, and Washington. See
her wanted poster. |
|
We call her the “Ponytail Bandit.” She’s
a pretty young woman whose shoulder-length
blonde ponytail sprouts from the back of
her baseball cap in images captured by banks
she allegedly robbed in three states in May.
In each case she approaches bank tellers,
demands money, and then waits, arms crossed,
slouching slightly, as tellers comply.
That
she doesn’t seem to fit the
stereotype of a bank robber—brazen,
masked, gun-slinging—has drawn a lot
of interest in her story, whatever it may
be. But the bottom line is the woman captured
on grainy bank surveillance tapes in Texas,
California, and Washington is a bank robber
committing a crime.
With her distinguishing moniker, the “Ponytail
Bandit” joins the ranks of hundreds
of other bank robbers sought or captured
by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies.
We play a direct or indirect role in all
bank robbery investigations and compile detailed
statistics on bank and armored car heists,
which last year amounted to more than $72
million in stolen loot.
Here’s a look at a few creative ways
we’re working with local authorities
and banks to catch robbers or prevent heists
before they happen:
- In
Baltimore, Special Agent Jeff
Cisar worked with public and private entities
last year to create a website specifically
to spotlight suspected bank robbers in
the Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Northern
Virginia regions. The site, bankbandits.org,
is seeded with a catalog of surveillance
images from area bank robberies and offers
a way to provide tips online.
- In
Los Angeles, Special Agent Stephen
May took a page from Agent Cisar’s
playbook and, through partnerships with
other agencies, created labankrobbers.org,
which covers seven counties in Southern
California. The site, like Baltimore’s,
features dozens of still surveillance
images, as well as a category of “serial
bandits” distinguished by colorful
monikers assigned by Agent May—“Bad
Rug Bandit,” “Banana Bandit,”
“Paparazzi Bandit.”
- In
Seattle, Special Agent Larry
Carr is the man behind some of the most
unique names assigned to bank robbers—“Attila
the Bun,” “Groundhog Day Bandit,”
Hollywood Bandit.” The catchy names
serve dual purposes—a hook for media
attention to help solve robberies and
a tool to help investigators track serial
suspects. Meanwhile, to help prevent bank
robberies in the first place, Agent Carr
developed a tactic designed to put potential
robbers on their heels—shower them
with immediate personal service. Agent
Carr’s “Operation Safecatch”
tutors bank employees on how to recognize
potential trouble and then take action—which
in many cases simply means breaking the
ice with a “customer” before
they get their nerve up to act. Carr credits
the tactic, which throws potential robbers
off their game plans, for a recent drop
in bank robberies in the Seattle area.
Agent Cisar in Baltimore said the push
to catch bank robbers by posting all of their
images on the Net has been effective—both
in leading to captures and aiding local police
investigators and private industry in an
era of tightening resources.
“We want everyone looking at these
sites,” he said. “You might recognize
someone.
You just never know.”
