Intricate Devices To Beat The Bank Robber

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 338, 27 September 1932, Page 7

Intricate Devices To Beat The Bank Robber

L. W.

Holmes

By

HOW can we beat the bank robber? 'Time and again the most powerfnl and influential finanoiers in America have asked that question. They have devised the most intricate means of protecting their money, and every time the gangster has beaten them. The matter is not so urgent in other countries, but the increasing audacity of crooks may make it so. As a special offlcer of the Bankers Protective Association, I have been in a position to observe the measures adopted to foil the robber, and my conclusion, reluctantly reached, is that it is practically impossible to stop him! In one bank, where I was on guard, a big steep turret commanding a view of the entire banking chamber was installed at great cost. This was placed between floor and_ ceiling, and craclc shots, with macliine guns, were on duty inside it. There came a day when a gang rushed the bank, forced the clerks to hand ofit money, and the gunners dared not open out for fear of hitting the customers in the bank. The gang was clear away b©for6 the cilcirm coxild he rs^ised'. One day the board of a big American bank met in great secrecy, and plans were formulated to outwit the gangsters. No one knew what they had decided, and all those gangsters who heard of it kept a watchful eye on the offices of the bank concerned. Outwardly no especial precautions were taken, and it was not long before a teugh gang made a raid on one of the branches. Four gunmen presented pistols at four clerks; two others cowed the customers. It looked as though all WaS OW33C.

Suddenly four guns were swept from the hands of the gunmen, hnd agonised howls deterred the men holding up the others. Guns blazed from behind clerks' cages, three men were hit and within a few seconds the entire gang was under arrest. The steel bars of the tellers' cages had been cbarged with electricity, and the current switched on by pressure of a button beneath the officials' feet had made contact with the steel barrels of the crooks' guns. It was perfect! The bankers smiled and similar installations were put in hand throughout the country. But not for long did they smile. The next attack on another branch of the same bank was successful because the gunmen put rubber tubing over the barrels of their weapons and thus prevented the current from communicating itself to them! Many people wonder why it is that the gangstdbs are usually so wellinformed as to when there will be enough money available to make a robbery worth their while. The average pay of American bank clerks is §150 a month, so that it is not surprising that a bribe of §1000 will tempt some of them. Added to this is the fear of opposing the gangsters and -the possibility of being put "on the spot" if they refuse. I was once called on to invesfigate, a bank robbery, and the fact that one of the clerks had been shot dead decided me tbat it was an inside job. This may sound surprising, but re-, member that the gangsters want to get witnesses out of the way, and there is always the danger that a man who has supplied them with information will talk once the police get their iiands on hina. Also when yoa kTII your informant, his share of the loot is saved.

That is the gangster's attitude, and the unfortunate bank officer is placed in a dilemma — if he gives information he gets shot, and if he refuses he runs the same risk. In this particular case we found that the suspected clerk had been worried just before the affair and had told his wife the whole story. After his death she came forward and gave us material information which led to the electrocution of the killers. One big bank thought it had the robbers foiled when it installed a system whereby pressure of a concealed button would automatically lock the doors of the bank. The system was tried out when the crooks attacked a branch bank one day, but immediately the gangsters saw the doors close they delivered an ultimatum. "Open those doors, or we'll shoot every man of you," they told the staff. Th& doors were opened, and the gang got away before tbe racing-squad cars — summoned at tbe same time as the doors closed — could reach the scene. But this particular bank still placed its faith in the automaiic doors, and they were retained' on all its preniises. Next time a raid was made a rubber mat was jammed between the door and the lintel, and when they were making their escape the gangsters kicked this aside and locked the unfortunate staff inside! Another little trick of gangsters used to be to kidrtap a bank manager ■at night and force him to open the doors and the vaults. I heard once of an unfortunate banker being locked in the vaults after such a raid, and found dead from suffocation next day. Generally speaking, the head offices of Mg banks are quite safe, but the branches are never out of danger. To •attack the palatial premises of a big

city bank, crowded with people, is one matter; to hold up a small branch, with only a few clerks and haff a dozen customers inside at the time, is very much another. That is why bank robbery will always be a proffitable business in the States. The best method of combating the gangsters was found to be by suggestion. When a world-famed agency like that eontrolled by Mr William J. Burns guards a bank it is generally a pretty safe guarantee that it will not be attacked. The crooks know that even though they may escape with booty, Burns's officers will track them down and eventually bring their crimes home to them. I was a Burns officer for many years. Many gangsters take drugs to key themselves up to undertake dangerous raids. Shortly after liis arrest, 1 talked with the leader of a big American gang. He bad been rounded up following a bank robbery, and although he was the brains of tbe concern, we knew that his wealth and influence would save him. This man told me that "liop-heads" (gangsters who take drugs) were a blessing and a menaee at tbe same time. "The bank clerks know tbat a hophead will shoot without hesitation," he said, "and consequently they give no trouble. On the other hand some of them shoot too much and ruin the whole show." The gangster said that his favourite method was to employ "hoplieads," but to keep them without drugs until the job was over. Their craving for the drug led them to amazing lengths, and the result was that they got the job over in the shortest possible space of time, in order to get at their clierished cocaine. With such rhen to be hired by the hundred, anything may happen, and is happening, in the United States to-day. .? • ,