Even in this high-tech age, old-fashioned bank robberies are still a cause for concern.
In 2011 alone, more than $30 million was stolen
and just over 100 people killed or injured in some 5,000 robberies of
financial institutions reported to us from across the nation.
The FBI has had a primary role in bank robbery
investigations since the 1930s, when John Dillinger and his gang were
robbing banks and capturing the public’s imagination. In 1934, it became
a federal crime to rob any national bank or state member bank of the
Federal Reserve. The law soon expanded to include bank burglary,
larceny, and similar crimes, with jurisdiction delegated to the FBI.
Now, as then, we work alongside local law enforcement in bank robbery
cases.