Statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Thursday show that crimes against banks across the nation were down in 2011.
According to the FBI, there were 5,014 robberies, 60 burglaries, 12 larcenies and seven extortions of financial institutions reported to law enforcement agencies in 2011, representing a total of 5,093 violations reported for the year. This represents a decrease from 2010, which saw 5,641 reported crimes against banks.
In addition, the FBI noted that of the reported bank robberies, burglaries and larcenies reported in 2011, "loot" was taken in 89 percent of these incidents. Loot was also taken in two of the seven reported bank extortions. The total amount taken during these incidents was valued at more than $38 million and more than $8 million was recovered and returned to financial institutions.
Among the some other bank crime statistics for 2011 include:
- Perpetrators most often used written demand notes (2,958 incident), followed by oral demands (2,678 incidents). Use of a weapon was threatened in 2,331 incidents and 1,242 incidents involved the use of a firearm.
- Acts of violence were committed in 201 of the reported robberies, burglaries and larcenies. Seventy of these incidents included the discharge of a firearm and 116 involved assaults. Overall, these acts of violence resulted in 88 injuries, 13 deaths and 30 persons being taken hostage.
- Most reported incidents took part on Friday and the most common time for a crime, regardless of the day, was between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Most bank crimes occurred in the southern region of the U.S. with 1,576 reported incidents.
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