Tuesday’s bank robbery at a US Bank branch was Lincoln’s second bank robbery of the year. The first, back on May 4th, was also at a US Bank branch—on the opposite end of the city. Both of these robberies were cleared up in a matter of minutes. In the most recent case, the subject was in Office John Clarke’s custody 30 minutes after the robbery and a couple hundred yards away. During her short period on the lam, she had allegedly spent some of the proceeds ordering a set of dentures at a nearby business, and then backtracked in the direction of the scene of the robbery, a rather flawed get away plan.
Interestingly, this was not our suspect’s first bank robbery. She was arrested for robbing US Bank’s main Lincoln location downtown on July 27, 2005. She was sentenced to three years of probation in connection with that case. In the 2005 robbery, she was apprehended by Officer Rich Fitch about 3 blocks and 5 minutes away. Somehow I think she needs to select a new career; this one doesn’t seem to be panning out too well.
We were six for six when this article ran more than a year ago in the Lincoln Journal Star. We are eight for eight now: each of the last eight bank robberies has been cleared by arrest, and the average time from the crime to the collar is less than an hour. Lincoln continues to be rather inhospitable to bank robbers.
Just a quick update on where we stand so far in 2010 on robberies of all types of businesses. There have been 13. This compares with 29 during the same period in 2009. That’s a 55% drop in biz robberies: very weird, and very gratifying.
By the way, I counted 77 business robberies in Omaha so far this year on the Omaha World Herald’s map, which is a pretty reasonable number for a city of their size. Only three of those appear to be bank robberies, which is excellent. The overall number of robberies in Omaha was down by 12% through the end of May—the most recent month available on their public website. Although we only have a fifth of their volume, the Omaha decrease robbery decline actually beats ours. Overall robberies in Lincoln are down 11% this year.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query robbery. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query robbery. Sort by date Show all posts
Friday, August 6, 2010
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Bank robbery clearance rate
Last week's robbery of a Bank of the West branch in Lincoln was quickly cleared with the arrest of a 47 year-old woman--not your typical bank robbery suspect. It was nice work by an off-duty LPD sergeant, moonlighting at Bryan West hospital nearby. She was monitoring her portable radio, picked up on the description, and spotted the suspect on the hospital campus.
It was the fifth bank robbery of 2013, all of which have been cleared with arrests, mostly in a matter of minutes. I've blogged before about the poor prospects of bank robbers in Lincoln. Nationwide, bank robbery has a very high clearance rate--about 60%, but in Lincoln it is even higher.
Friday, Lincoln Journal Star reporter Lori Pilger sent me a tweet: "So how far back does LPD's 100 percent clearance rate for bank robberies go?", she asked. "Last unsolved bank robbery in Lincoln was 12-7-2007," I replied. If we make it through the rest of the day without an unsolved bank robbery, it will be our sixth year of a 100% clearance rate for bank robberies in Lincoln.
It was the fifth bank robbery of 2013, all of which have been cleared with arrests, mostly in a matter of minutes. I've blogged before about the poor prospects of bank robbers in Lincoln. Nationwide, bank robbery has a very high clearance rate--about 60%, but in Lincoln it is even higher.
Friday, Lincoln Journal Star reporter Lori Pilger sent me a tweet: "So how far back does LPD's 100 percent clearance rate for bank robberies go?", she asked. "Last unsolved bank robbery in Lincoln was 12-7-2007," I replied. If we make it through the rest of the day without an unsolved bank robbery, it will be our sixth year of a 100% clearance rate for bank robberies in Lincoln.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Business robberies
Two crimes that are especially low in Lincoln are robbery and auto theft. I’ve blogged before about the unusually small number of stick-ups we have, for a City of 252,000. While the overall robbery rate is very low, the number of business robberies is even lower.
The first business robbery of the 2010 was on January 6, when a Super C convenience store was held up. The frustrated robber got no loot at all. We almost made it through the first month with a single business robbery, but during the wee hours on January 31st, we had our second business robbery of the year, at a Kwik Shop convenience store. The criminal committed a Class II Felony, punishable by up to fifty years in prison, that netted somewhere around $20—a pretty typical score in a convenience store robbery.
In 2009, there were a total of 42 robberies of businesses in Lincoln. By comparison, our big brother a few miles to the northeast experienced 205 robberies of businesses in 2009.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Green stamps
Friday's robbery at Shoemaker's Truck Station was the first robbery of a business in Lincoln in 2011. We have been on quite a diet lately when it comes to business robberies, with only 21 in all of 2010. That is an incredibly low number for a city of over a quarter million.
I am proud of the job LPD does on retail robberies. Put the search term "robbery" into the Chief's Corner's search box, scroll through the posts, you will find lots of examples of great investigations and quick arrests. Friday was no exception. The robbery at 1:43 AM resulted in the suspects landing in the slammer before noon. They were identified by a combination of some good old fashioned police work, and some information technology.
Robbery is a tough crime to get away with, and our clearance rate on these cases is remarkable. In part, this is due to LPD's ability to ingest information (see, for example, lincolncrimestoppers.com) and to access deep information resources during investigations in order to collect information about suspects, their associates, their vehicles, and so forth. Such was the case on Friday, as officers were able to quickly connect the dots left by the suspects. Those dots, by the way, are plentiful these days. Criminals continue to leave plenty of digital footprints. There really is nowhere to hide.
The average take on robberies in Lincoln is pitiful. Why someone would risk arrest and conviction for a Class II Felony in order to make off with $23 and two packs of Marlboros (a pretty typical example of the big haul) is beyond me. Something robbers can ponder in the County Jail while they wait for the next episode of Southpark. Although there are occasional exceptions, for the most part if the robbers would have devoted the same amount of time and energy to licking S&H Green Stamps as they did to planning and executing their failed crime, they would have been money ahead.
The Green Stamp reference is going to to seriously date me, and miss most readers entirely. Let's change that to, "...same amount of time and energy picking up aluminum cans from highway ditches."
I am proud of the job LPD does on retail robberies. Put the search term "robbery" into the Chief's Corner's search box, scroll through the posts, you will find lots of examples of great investigations and quick arrests. Friday was no exception. The robbery at 1:43 AM resulted in the suspects landing in the slammer before noon. They were identified by a combination of some good old fashioned police work, and some information technology.
Robbery is a tough crime to get away with, and our clearance rate on these cases is remarkable. In part, this is due to LPD's ability to ingest information (see, for example, lincolncrimestoppers.com) and to access deep information resources during investigations in order to collect information about suspects, their associates, their vehicles, and so forth. Such was the case on Friday, as officers were able to quickly connect the dots left by the suspects. Those dots, by the way, are plentiful these days. Criminals continue to leave plenty of digital footprints. There really is nowhere to hide.
The average take on robberies in Lincoln is pitiful. Why someone would risk arrest and conviction for a Class II Felony in order to make off with $23 and two packs of Marlboros (a pretty typical example of the big haul) is beyond me. Something robbers can ponder in the County Jail while they wait for the next episode of Southpark. Although there are occasional exceptions, for the most part if the robbers would have devoted the same amount of time and energy to licking S&H Green Stamps as they did to planning and executing their failed crime, they would have been money ahead.
The Green Stamp reference is going to to seriously date me, and miss most readers entirely. Let's change that to, "...same amount of time and energy picking up aluminum cans from highway ditches."
Monday, October 25, 2010
Number 2: Lincoln National Bank
On the morning of September 17, 1930 a dark blue Buick carrying six men pulled up in front of the Lincoln National Bank at the northwest corner of 12th and O Street. Five of the men entered the bank while a sixth stood outside by the Buick, cradling a machine gun. Observing the unusual events, a passerby called the police. The officer who responded, Forrest Shappaugh, was casually instructed by the machine gun toting lookout to just keep going, which he wisely did. Returning with reinforcements, the robbers had already made good on their getaway, netting $2.7 million in cash and negotiable securities.
Ultimately, three of the six suspects were arrested. Tommy O’Connor and Howard Lee were convicted and sentenced. Jack Britt was tried twice but not convicted by a hung jury. Gus Winkeler, a member of Al Capone’s gang, winged a deal with County Attorney Max Towle to avoid prosecution in exchange for orchestrating the recovery of $600,000 in bearer bonds. The following year, Winkeler was murdered in Chicago, the victim of a gangland slaying. The final two robbers were never identified.
The Lincoln National Bank robbery stood as the largest cash bank robbery in the United States for many decades. It precipitated major changes at the Lincoln Police Department. Chief Peter Johnstone was rapidly “retired” after the robbery, the department’s fleet was upgraded to add the first official patrol cars, the full force was armed, and a shotgun squad was organized. Forty four years later when I was hired at LPD, the echo of the Lincoln National Bank robbery was still evident in daily bank opening details, and in the Thomspon submachine guns and Reising rifles that detectives grabbed whenever the robbery alarm sounded at headquarters.
The Sereies:
Ultimately, three of the six suspects were arrested. Tommy O’Connor and Howard Lee were convicted and sentenced. Jack Britt was tried twice but not convicted by a hung jury. Gus Winkeler, a member of Al Capone’s gang, winged a deal with County Attorney Max Towle to avoid prosecution in exchange for orchestrating the recovery of $600,000 in bearer bonds. The following year, Winkeler was murdered in Chicago, the victim of a gangland slaying. The final two robbers were never identified.The Lincoln National Bank robbery stood as the largest cash bank robbery in the United States for many decades. It precipitated major changes at the Lincoln Police Department. Chief Peter Johnstone was rapidly “retired” after the robbery, the department’s fleet was upgraded to add the first official patrol cars, the full force was armed, and a shotgun squad was organized. Forty four years later when I was hired at LPD, the echo of the Lincoln National Bank robbery was still evident in daily bank opening details, and in the Thomspon submachine guns and Reising rifles that detectives grabbed whenever the robbery alarm sounded at headquarters.
The Sereies:
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Six for six
Friday morning’s robbery of the Union Bank branch at 48th and Normal Blvd. turned out to be the big event of the week. I’m sure it will be on Officer Brian Ward’s list of career highlights. I thought that clearing this string of burglaries with four arrests would be the big story of the week, but that got a bit overshadowed.
The digital footprints got the burglars, but an alert citizen was the key to the bank robbery. The citizen (I’m not sure he wants to be publicly identified, so I’ll just refer to him as Chuck) saw the suspect run out the door and dash to a nearby car. Thinking that odd, he followed and phoned 911. Yes, indeed, there had just been a robbery. Chuck vectored patrol cars in about a half mile away, at Normal Blvd. and South Street, and after a short pursuit the arrest was made.
Chuck was sitting in the lobby of the police station a few minutes later, waiting to give a statement to an investigator, when he received a bearhug and a high five from the chief of police. Wow, it just amazes me sometimes how citizens help us out. Talk about community policing!
The Lincoln Journal Star did a nice article about the recent trend in bank robberies. This is a low-yield crime in Lincoln, I’d say. Take the “by the clock” link to a neat roll-over map.
I used to drop my daughter off at the bank where this robbery occurred, one of the several Union Bank branches where she worked in college. Son, too, a few years earlier. I take an especially dim view of bank robbery for personal reasons. Both of my children are still in banking, Kelly at the SAC Federal Credit Union in Omaha, TJ here in Lincoln at Union Bank. I enjoyed calling them both on Friday evening to, well, gloat.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Robbery trends
Last Thursday, the Lincoln Journal Star crime beat reporter, Lori Pilger, had an appointment with me to discuss Lincoln's 2007 crime stats. The result was this article. The online version doesn't include the 1991-2007 bar chart that was in the print version, but in a nutshell, the Part 1 crime rate in Lincoln have fallen steadily since peaking in 1991. Although there was an uptick in the violent Part 1 crime rate last year, violent crime was still pretty low--in the bottom half of that time period. Since property crimes in the Uniform Crime Report overwhelm violent crimes, the small decrease in thefts resulted in a lower overall crime rate.
I told Ms. Pilger that the crime which concerned me the most was robbery. We had our fifth highest year since 1991 in that category. The article incorrectly reported that it was the second highest year on record. I was probably the only one to notice that, so it isn't a big deal. Robbery concerns me because of the risk that it poses. Holdups, home invasions, and street muggings are incredibly dangerous, and significantly impact the feeling of safety in the community. Even the news reports of such robberies make people jumpy. Many folks don't realize from the news report that the victim had just sold an ounce of pot to a customer who came back with a couple pals and a gun to get the cash and the rest of the stash.
I told Lori that my perception was that the increase was not in robberies of businesses, rather street robberies and home invasions (which are almost always drug-related ripoffs). We ran the numbers on business robberies, which showed that although they've bounced around a bit the trend line was flat. After she left, I did a little more work on other types of robbery. Here's the result (click to enlarge):
Two things stand out to me: the steady increase in robberies at residences, and the unusually low (even in the worst years) number of bank robberies. The cup's half full.
I told Ms. Pilger that the crime which concerned me the most was robbery. We had our fifth highest year since 1991 in that category. The article incorrectly reported that it was the second highest year on record. I was probably the only one to notice that, so it isn't a big deal. Robbery concerns me because of the risk that it poses. Holdups, home invasions, and street muggings are incredibly dangerous, and significantly impact the feeling of safety in the community. Even the news reports of such robberies make people jumpy. Many folks don't realize from the news report that the victim had just sold an ounce of pot to a customer who came back with a couple pals and a gun to get the cash and the rest of the stash.
I told Lori that my perception was that the increase was not in robberies of businesses, rather street robberies and home invasions (which are almost always drug-related ripoffs). We ran the numbers on business robberies, which showed that although they've bounced around a bit the trend line was flat. After she left, I did a little more work on other types of robbery. Here's the result (click to enlarge):
Two things stand out to me: the steady increase in robberies at residences, and the unusually low (even in the worst years) number of bank robberies. The cup's half full.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Also nabbed
Yesterday afternoon's robbery of a US Bank branch on N. 27th Street was Lincoln's first bank robbery in over a year. Like last April's robbery of a Union Bank branch, an alert citizen spotted the getaway car yesterday, which led to a quick arrest.
Overall, there have now been seven holdups of businesses in Lincoln thus far in 2010. Two of those are what you might describe as "forcible shoplifting," although this precise example is used in item number 11 on page 23 of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook to illustrate the definition of robbery. I wonder how many police departments accurately apply that definition to these kinds of crimes.
The low number of business robberies so far this year is highly unusual, even by Lincoln's standards. Last year as of May 4th, we had suffered 21 robberies of businesses, including three banks. We must have the right people in jail at the moment.
Overall, there have now been seven holdups of businesses in Lincoln thus far in 2010. Two of those are what you might describe as "forcible shoplifting," although this precise example is used in item number 11 on page 23 of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook to illustrate the definition of robbery. I wonder how many police departments accurately apply that definition to these kinds of crimes.
The low number of business robberies so far this year is highly unusual, even by Lincoln's standards. Last year as of May 4th, we had suffered 21 robberies of businesses, including three banks. We must have the right people in jail at the moment.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Landlord holds the key
Last weekend, Northwest Team officers got slammed with a series of investigations that emanated from a large drinking party in a big new duplex on N. 21st Street near the northern edge of the city. Six assaults and one robbery occurred after a group of uninvited attendees showed up and were not exactly friendly, a trend of late. Fortunately, the robbery was cleared quickly when Sgt. Bill Kuhlman stopped a vehicle leaving the area and found the rather distinctively-described suspect. (Note: not a good idea to commit robbery when you are 6'7" tall. )
When the dust cleared, the Northwest Team had a mound of reports to complete, follow-up to conduct, evidence to tag, and statements to transcribe. It's not the first time, as this same location has been the site of 19 police incidents this year, including a total of 9 violent crimes: rape, robbery and assault. I think it will get dramatically quieter in the next several months, because Capt. Genelle Moore had a frank conversation today with the registered agent of the corporation that owns the duplex--a nice little factoid made readily available 24/7 courtesy of the Lancaster County Assessor and the Nebraska Secretary of State. Our registered agent is a well-known developer of many-bedroomed-vinyl-sided-huge-garage-in-front duplexes.
Our experience with such places has been that when we bring some pressure to bear on a landlord, manager, or property owner, the situation normally improves quite quickly. Take away the anonymity, and suddenly it's not just the police who are trying to solve the problems. We have occasionally used Lincoln's ordinance Maintaining a Disorderly House to cite landlords or property owners, but usually the mere implication that we might do so spurs the owner to get a move on it.
The Northwest Team has another great example of the phenomenon. It's another one of those big duplexes dropped into a formerly quiet little area of single-family homes. In 2005, we responded to the duplex on 34 incidents. In 2006 it was 48. I was working on New Year's Day this year, and noticed the trend. I sent a facetious email to the captain who commands the area, wondering if we should just assign an officer to park in front of the duplex as a fuel saving measure, since we were there ten times in December of 2006 anyway.
That ramped up the heat on the landlord with a citation for Maintaining a Disorderly House (we had warned him several times previously). His initial response was to complain to a City Council member. I had to explain all the details in order to assure her that we weren't picking on the landlord, rather, he was failing to take the necessary steps to deal with these problem residents (among those cited there--five times--was this guy). After he was cited, the landlord promised to do better, and the City prosecutor dismissed the charge. Within a matter of weeks, he sold the property. He just wasn't equipped to deal with tenants who were not cooperative.
Apparently the new owner is. Our last police dispatch to the duplex was case number A6-139400, a wild party disturbance on December 29, 2006. If we make it through today, that's a full year with zero police calls, arrests, citations, and complaints.
When the dust cleared, the Northwest Team had a mound of reports to complete, follow-up to conduct, evidence to tag, and statements to transcribe. It's not the first time, as this same location has been the site of 19 police incidents this year, including a total of 9 violent crimes: rape, robbery and assault. I think it will get dramatically quieter in the next several months, because Capt. Genelle Moore had a frank conversation today with the registered agent of the corporation that owns the duplex--a nice little factoid made readily available 24/7 courtesy of the Lancaster County Assessor and the Nebraska Secretary of State. Our registered agent is a well-known developer of many-bedroomed-vinyl-sided-huge-garage-in-front duplexes.
Our experience with such places has been that when we bring some pressure to bear on a landlord, manager, or property owner, the situation normally improves quite quickly. Take away the anonymity, and suddenly it's not just the police who are trying to solve the problems. We have occasionally used Lincoln's ordinance Maintaining a Disorderly House to cite landlords or property owners, but usually the mere implication that we might do so spurs the owner to get a move on it.
The Northwest Team has another great example of the phenomenon. It's another one of those big duplexes dropped into a formerly quiet little area of single-family homes. In 2005, we responded to the duplex on 34 incidents. In 2006 it was 48. I was working on New Year's Day this year, and noticed the trend. I sent a facetious email to the captain who commands the area, wondering if we should just assign an officer to park in front of the duplex as a fuel saving measure, since we were there ten times in December of 2006 anyway.
That ramped up the heat on the landlord with a citation for Maintaining a Disorderly House (we had warned him several times previously). His initial response was to complain to a City Council member. I had to explain all the details in order to assure her that we weren't picking on the landlord, rather, he was failing to take the necessary steps to deal with these problem residents (among those cited there--five times--was this guy). After he was cited, the landlord promised to do better, and the City prosecutor dismissed the charge. Within a matter of weeks, he sold the property. He just wasn't equipped to deal with tenants who were not cooperative.
Apparently the new owner is. Our last police dispatch to the duplex was case number A6-139400, a wild party disturbance on December 29, 2006. If we make it through today, that's a full year with zero police calls, arrests, citations, and complaints.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Testing the iCrime theory
In the past week, both the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star have contacted me about the involvement of iPods in violent crime. Apparently the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, recently released a paper by John Roman and Aaron Chalfin entitled Is there an iCrime Wave?
These authors contend that the increase in violent crime over the past two years in the United States is the result of the proliferation of iPods. The theory is that a small, high value, and ubiquitous item essentially increases the number of vulnerable targets for robbery--one of the most common of all violent crimes, and the offense that has driven the overall increase in violent crime in the U.S. during the past two years. The iCrime theory has been getting a lot of ink this week.
Both newspaper reporters wanted my take on the theory. Cory Matteson, the Lincoln Journal Star reporter, sent me an email inquiry last Thursday. Mr. Matteson, it turns out, was himself the victim of a lost-or-stolen iPod recently. He phrased his request like this:
So, here's the data on stolen iPods in Lincoln since January 1, 2006:
Our data fails to confirm Roman and Chalfin's hypothesis. Only one iPod was reported stolen in a robbery during the past 26 months, a time period during which 388 total robberies were reported to the Lincoln Police Department. That lone case was an April 28, 2007 carjacking in which the victim, sitting outside a bar at 1:10 A.M., was approached by three suspects who pulled him out of the vehicle, roughed him up, took his car then crashed it a couple blocks away. His iPod and cell phone were missing when the car was recovered. Since the offense involved a theft of property by violence, it meets the definition of a robbery.
These authors contend that the increase in violent crime over the past two years in the United States is the result of the proliferation of iPods. The theory is that a small, high value, and ubiquitous item essentially increases the number of vulnerable targets for robbery--one of the most common of all violent crimes, and the offense that has driven the overall increase in violent crime in the U.S. during the past two years. The iCrime theory has been getting a lot of ink this week.
Both newspaper reporters wanted my take on the theory. Cory Matteson, the Lincoln Journal Star reporter, sent me an email inquiry last Thursday. Mr. Matteson, it turns out, was himself the victim of a lost-or-stolen iPod recently. He phrased his request like this:
"Did Lincoln see an upswing in robberies during that time? Did enough of the victims report their iPods taken to back what this policy center thinks is happening? I don't know if it's possible to run such a search over the last couple years, but if that report interests you enough to do it, I'd like to hear the results."You'll notice he didn't really seriously question whether we would have the data, only if I'd be interested enough to search it out. I think he was not surprised when I emailed the results back to him in short order:
"Cory: Get a Shuffle with a big clip. Data on 2007 iPod's attached. Looks like the simple answer is 'No.' "The Omaha World Herald reporter, Maggie O'Brien ,called late yesterday afternoon. She assumed that I would not have any data at all, and was quite surprised that I could immediately provide her the stats on iPod thefts by crime type back to January 1, 2007. Like any good reporter, she continued to mine that vein, upping the ante by asking me for the 2006 data. That took me a couple minutes, because I had just closed CrimeView and shut down my computer. Is it just me, or does that always seem to happen?
So, here's the data on stolen iPods in Lincoln since January 1, 2006:
| Robbery | 1 |
| Auto theft | 4 |
| Burglary | 36 |
| Larceny from auto | 184 |
| Other larceny | 210 |
Our data fails to confirm Roman and Chalfin's hypothesis. Only one iPod was reported stolen in a robbery during the past 26 months, a time period during which 388 total robberies were reported to the Lincoln Police Department. That lone case was an April 28, 2007 carjacking in which the victim, sitting outside a bar at 1:10 A.M., was approached by three suspects who pulled him out of the vehicle, roughed him up, took his car then crashed it a couple blocks away. His iPod and cell phone were missing when the car was recovered. Since the offense involved a theft of property by violence, it meets the definition of a robbery.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Quite a morning
Normally, the time period between about 4:00 A.M. and 600 A.M. is the slowest part of the day at the police station. For late shift officers, it's time to catch up on reports, make a last check on some of your burglary-prone commercial strips, and roll the windows down so the breeze keeps you awake. The day shift personnel start coming on duty at 0600, and the first order of business for many is to grab a cup of coffee before briefing.
Thursday, the calm was broken by a series of events that started at 0510, when a south Lincoln resident heard his car alarm sounding. He stepped outside to find a couple of guys who had broken out his side window. He confronted the thieves, when one pulled out a gun and fired four rounds from a .45 cal. pistol before running off on foot northbound.
Shortly later, at about 0548, a home invasion robbery occurred at about 30th and O Street. The victim heard a loud noise followed by footsteps, then gunfire. She was confronted by two men who had kicked in the back door and popped off a couple rounds, also .45 cal. The robbers were seeking money, but got none, and left.
A suspect was identified on these two cases, and several miles across town, the suspect vehicle was located. The primary suspect had just recently been acquitted in a jury trial of another shooting, and was suspected of these two cases, so they were considered armed and dangerous. A perimeter was established, and the SWAT Team summoned. It happened to be a regular training day for the Team, so they were quickly mobilized. Ultimately, the suspects were apprehended without incident at 0906.
While the SWAT Team standoff was proceeding in Northeast Lincoln, the first bank robbery of 2008 went down in Southwest Lincoln at 0842, when a man entered a Westgate Bank branch with what he claimed was a bomb. A witness who saw the employees with their hands in the air called 911, which gave us a jump on the alarm. The robber forced the employees to the floor, then took off, abandoning his fake bomb nearby, and peddling away on a bicycle.
Det. Sgt. Chad Barrett spotted the suspect about a mile away at 20th and C Street, and the arrest was made about 6 minutes after the robbery was reported. The suspect has been convicted of two prior bank robberies, and was on Federal probation for the most recent of those, a 1999 case. He was just released from prison on that case late last year. Interestingly, his first conviction, in 1991, was for a robbery at the same bank he held up on Thursday morning. Det. Sgt. Sandy Myers, one of the investigators on the 1991 case, knew he was our guy when the description came out.
All in all, it was an eventful morning of great police work. The normally desk-bound left their coffee mugs and hit the bricks for some intense action. Nothing like a few violent crimes to get the blood flowing in the morning, and nothing like a few arrests for those violent felonies to put a smile on the faces around the station all day.
Friday, the morning crew at one of our local talk radio stations, KLIN, had me on the air for a few minutes. Jack Mitchell asked me what my role is during events such as those on Thursday morning. "Stand back and get out of the way," I replied. Around a crime scene, a chief is a boat anchor. My head is so buried in stats, budgets, meetings, and the politics of being a City department director, that regrettably, I rarely get to play. Corny as it sounds, though, on days like Thursday, I feel that what I do somehow helps make this all possible in some small way.
Thursday, the calm was broken by a series of events that started at 0510, when a south Lincoln resident heard his car alarm sounding. He stepped outside to find a couple of guys who had broken out his side window. He confronted the thieves, when one pulled out a gun and fired four rounds from a .45 cal. pistol before running off on foot northbound.
Shortly later, at about 0548, a home invasion robbery occurred at about 30th and O Street. The victim heard a loud noise followed by footsteps, then gunfire. She was confronted by two men who had kicked in the back door and popped off a couple rounds, also .45 cal. The robbers were seeking money, but got none, and left.
A suspect was identified on these two cases, and several miles across town, the suspect vehicle was located. The primary suspect had just recently been acquitted in a jury trial of another shooting, and was suspected of these two cases, so they were considered armed and dangerous. A perimeter was established, and the SWAT Team summoned. It happened to be a regular training day for the Team, so they were quickly mobilized. Ultimately, the suspects were apprehended without incident at 0906.
While the SWAT Team standoff was proceeding in Northeast Lincoln, the first bank robbery of 2008 went down in Southwest Lincoln at 0842, when a man entered a Westgate Bank branch with what he claimed was a bomb. A witness who saw the employees with their hands in the air called 911, which gave us a jump on the alarm. The robber forced the employees to the floor, then took off, abandoning his fake bomb nearby, and peddling away on a bicycle.
Det. Sgt. Chad Barrett spotted the suspect about a mile away at 20th and C Street, and the arrest was made about 6 minutes after the robbery was reported. The suspect has been convicted of two prior bank robberies, and was on Federal probation for the most recent of those, a 1999 case. He was just released from prison on that case late last year. Interestingly, his first conviction, in 1991, was for a robbery at the same bank he held up on Thursday morning. Det. Sgt. Sandy Myers, one of the investigators on the 1991 case, knew he was our guy when the description came out.
All in all, it was an eventful morning of great police work. The normally desk-bound left their coffee mugs and hit the bricks for some intense action. Nothing like a few violent crimes to get the blood flowing in the morning, and nothing like a few arrests for those violent felonies to put a smile on the faces around the station all day.
Friday, the morning crew at one of our local talk radio stations, KLIN, had me on the air for a few minutes. Jack Mitchell asked me what my role is during events such as those on Thursday morning. "Stand back and get out of the way," I replied. Around a crime scene, a chief is a boat anchor. My head is so buried in stats, budgets, meetings, and the politics of being a City department director, that regrettably, I rarely get to play. Corny as it sounds, though, on days like Thursday, I feel that what I do somehow helps make this all possible in some small way.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
False report
On September 13th, an armed robbery occurred at the Wells Fargo ATM located at N. 65th St. and Cotner Boulevard. We had good leads on that case from the outset, and it was cleared by two arrests later in the week. Before that occurred though, clear across town, another robbery connected to a Wells Fargo ATM was reported on September 16th. The victim said he had gone to the ATM at S. 70th St. and Pioneers Blvd., where he made a $260 withdrawal. As he turned into his neighborhood nearly a mile away, another vehicle bumped his car from behind. He got out to check the damage. The suspect brandished a pistol and relieved him of his rent money.
While the investigating officers certainly took it seriously, I thought this crime was fishy from the outset. It just sounded too much like an urban legend story to me: too convenient, too contrived. What’s this 35 year-old doing getting cash from an ATM to pay his rent in the middle of the month? He's living with his parents, and they won't accept a check? When, in my entire career, have I heard of a bump-and-rob in Lincoln? (Answer: never.) Of all the places to pull such a crime, why select a residential street with plenty of houses and streetlights? How many stranger robberies occur so early in the evening? My suspicion was that the victim had seen the news about the ATM robbery earlier in the week, and concocted a plausible story to explain his inability to pay the rent.
I told Det. Marty Fehringer the next morning that we should check the victim’s account activity at the bare minimum and see if he in fact made such a withdrawal. I imagine that in the back of his mind he was thinking, “Good idea, Capt. Obvious,” but Marty’s a gentleman, and allowed me my moment as amateur detective. The check of bank records revealed no such transaction occurred, and in a subsequent interview, the victim’s story collapsed. He had left the state for a while, so a few weeks passed before we were able to contact him over the weekend and cite him for false information.
One of the most annoying things about this case is the victim’s choice of his imaginary assailant: a black man armed with a pistol. I’m sick and tired of liars making up phantom suspects for non-existent crimes. There are plenty of genuine crimes to go around, and we have more than enough work to do without chasing after someone’s racist stereotypes.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Have a little faith
Tuesday's robbery at the Great Western Bank in downtown Lincoln was the latest example of something I've blogged about on past occasions: bank robbery is really, really bad choice for your criminal exploits. Bank robberies enjoy an exceptionally high clearance rate. Your chances of making a clean getaway are very slim. In the latest example of this, Tuesday's robbery suspect was in custody about four minutes after the alarm was received.
I generally don't put much stock in the comments posted on the Lincoln Journal Star's website, but this one, from someone using the moniker RealityCheck, caught my eye:
RealityCheck It's nice when the police show up and apprehend their suspect. However, good thing the guy didn't run back into the bank when he saw the police waiting for him. Although the guy ended up not having any weapons, that was not know at the time. Let this be a training lesson in the future.
Apparently this reader concluded (perhaps from the after-action photo accompanying the article) that the police just pulled up to the bank and stood there in front of the plate glass in full view of the robber awaiting his exit.
Thanks for the tactical advice, RealityCheck, but you've jumped to false conclusion. Have a little faith.
I generally don't put much stock in the comments posted on the Lincoln Journal Star's website, but this one, from someone using the moniker RealityCheck, caught my eye:
Apparently this reader concluded (perhaps from the after-action photo accompanying the article) that the police just pulled up to the bank and stood there in front of the plate glass in full view of the robber awaiting his exit.
Thanks for the tactical advice, RealityCheck, but you've jumped to false conclusion. Have a little faith.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Candid camera
The Public Works Department's network of pan-zoom-tilt traffic cameras continues to grow, as three more were added in the past week. Although these are primarily designed to help the traffic center monitor flow patterns and signal timings, they actually have some great potential for assisting us at the police department.
You might be thinking photo speed enforcement, or photo traffic signal enforcement--which is common in Europe and in parts of the U.S. (the Phoenix metro area, for example.) I like photo enforcement for traffic signals, not only because I am familiar with the research, but because I've personally seen the results: it seemed to me when I was last in Phoenix that people actually stop when the light turns yellow, rather than jam the accelerator, bust through the light, and suck three more cars through behind them. It will take action by the State Legislature to enable photo enforcement in Nebraska, and past legislative proposals have not fared well.
What really has me thinking, though, are the applications these cameras may have for criminal investigations and for public-place monitoring to improve safety. A few weeks ago, Capt. Jim Thoms and I followed a suspect vehicle up 27th Street on cameras at Old Cheney, Highway 2, South Street, Capital Parkway, and O Street. We finally caught a good enough shot at O Street to realize that the vehicle we had been following was the wrong one.
The City's traffic cameras aren't recorded (that's not something Public Works really needs), but a Nebraska company, Hawkeye Vision, has loaned me some equipment to cobble together a little experimental recording system right in my office for a few weeks. I'm only recording a handful of the 20 cameras, but it's been interesting. Officer Ray Kansier used it a couple weeks ago to get a better description of the possible getaway vehicle from a robbery. Investigator Shannon Karl found the suspect vehicle leaving the scene of a convenience store robbery on video last week. I've caught and recorded a few police incidents, and a bunch of traffic violations.
It certainly has my head spinning about what the future may hold. Checking video from convenience stores, ATMs, banks, gas stations, and so forth has become a pretty common step in many criminal investigations in the past few years. The difference here is in monitoring public places--streets, in this instance, but it could be parks, bus shelters, or other public facilities. If we have a description of a vehicle leaving a crime scene, for instance, it is almost a certainly that the vehicle will be driving through one of those 20 intersections. If they were all recorded, and the camera resolution, angle of view, and lighting cooperated, we'd really have something!
Some cities, like London and Chicago, are going hog-wild with cameras in public places. After dabbling with it a little bit, I can see why. When you think about it, we're all probably caught on camera several times daily--not just at the traffic light at a major intersection, but using the ATM, buying coffee at the Gas 'n Gulp, at the airport, and all sorts of other circumstances. It's cheap and easy, and lots of businesses are doing it that would never dream of CCTV five years ago. It's a little disconcerting to some people who think about the infringement on their privacy. I have to admit, I'm a little uncomfortable thinking about who's watching whenever I'm on an elevator these days.
I'm not without "big brother" concerns of my own, but on the other hand, the ability to remotely keep an eye on the pot boiling at 14th and O Street, or get a better description of the vehicle involved in the robbery is pretty enticing. My prediction: this is going to be a significant force in the future of policing.
We may not be able to do much about the private sector spread of cameras, but on the public side, it will be up to citizens to determine how far we allow this to go.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Case cleared
A comment late last night on yesterday's blog post Maytag repairman merits a longer response. The comment asked how Lincoln's clearance rate on murder, business robbery, and auto theft compares with other cities. A clearance, by the way, is basically a "solved" case--usually through arrest. These crimes are good choices for comparison, because of all the Part 1 offenses, they are probably the least susceptible to varying reporting practices--it's hard to write off a missing car, a stick-up, and a corpse as anything other than an auto theft, a robbery, and a murder.
The author of the comment hypothesizes that clearances decrease as population increase. This indeed appears to be the case. Although there are a few deviations, the pattern appears to be correlated with size. I must admit, I did not know that, nor suspect it until I looked this morning.
The specific answers, now. I can't break out business robberies from all robberies, but the other data is pretty easy to find on the FBI's Uniform Crime Report site, and in the LPD Annual Reports. The column contains the average clearance rate for Lincoln over the past decade, the 2006 national clearance rate for Group II cities (100,000 to 249,999), and the 2006 clearance rate for all U.S. cities:
Of all the Part 1 offenses, the only one for which Lincoln's clearance rate is lower than other cities is rape. Our ten year average was 27%, the Group II average was 39%, and for all cities it was 41%. I have my own theory about that, but I'd rather hear yours first.
The author of the comment hypothesizes that clearances decrease as population increase. This indeed appears to be the case. Although there are a few deviations, the pattern appears to be correlated with size. I must admit, I did not know that, nor suspect it until I looked this morning.
The specific answers, now. I can't break out business robberies from all robberies, but the other data is pretty easy to find on the FBI's Uniform Crime Report site, and in the LPD Annual Reports. The column contains the average clearance rate for Lincoln over the past decade, the 2006 national clearance rate for Group II cities (100,000 to 249,999), and the 2006 clearance rate for all U.S. cities:
| Crime | Lincoln | GroupII | All Cities |
| Murder | 95% | 55% | 61% |
| Robbery | 40% | 23% | 25% |
| Auto theft | 33% | 10% | 12% |
Of all the Part 1 offenses, the only one for which Lincoln's clearance rate is lower than other cities is rape. Our ten year average was 27%, the Group II average was 39%, and for all cities it was 41%. I have my own theory about that, but I'd rather hear yours first.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
On camera again
It got pretty exciting around LPD yesterday morning. Things started warming up at 1:41 AM, when a robbery took place at Roc’s Stop & Shop, a convenience store at 27th and South Streets. By about 9:30 AM, the Community Services group had obtained some frame shots from the video, and had those posted on our Crimestoppers blog. The images weren’t bad, and showed the unusual pockets on the suspect’s trousers.
At 10:13 AM, another holdup was reported at the Roc’s Stop & Shop at 56th and Holdrege: same description, same pants. Just 14 minutes later, at 10:27 AM, a third convenience store robbery was reported at the Kwik Shop at 40th and A Streets. Once again, the description matched and this time we got a license plate number from the getaway vehicle.
All over the city, available officers were checking the convenience stores on their beat. At 10:55 AM, Officer Rob Brenner spotted the suspects at the Git-n-Split at 345 W. O Street. He effected the gunpoint arrests.
The alleged wheel man was just reported as an escapee from the State Department of Corrections on Monday—he absconded on his first day of work release. He is serving 10 to 20 for four counts of Robbery and one count of burglary from Douglas County. The alleged gunman hasn’t had a good month: he was just identified a couple of weeks ago in a theft at a grocery store where he grabbed cash from an open register door and dashed. A citizen spotted him on our Crimestoppers blog from that case and gave us the tip.
It was a bad morning for our violent Part 1 crime rate, but a good one for our clearance rate. This is the kind of arrest you dream about: great police work by Officer Brenner, supported by his colleagues who arrived to assist, Mike Muff and Ben Kopsa.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Ex-husbands look alike
When you've been a cop for a few decades, you've come to expect the surveillance photos from a robbery to be fairly worthless--grainy, out of focus, dark, poor resolution. These days, though, things are changing. We are now getting much better photos and video.
It seems that convenience stores always have to best stuff first. Maybe it's because they are smaller and more agile than the big boys. A few years ago, one of our local banks had experienced four robberies at branches over a span of a few months. The COO, a friend of mine, called me up and asked me if there is anything I could think of that the bank could do. "Yeah," I said, "walk next door to the Kwik Shop, buy a big gulp, see what they have for cameras, and then buy the same thing for all your branch banks!"
Last week's bank robbery (the first since October 6, 2008) provides evidence that banks have caught up to 7-Elevens. This was a pretty good beauty shot of the robber--even better at full resolution. You can see his goatee, read the "B" on his cap, and notice the wedding band. Not bad at all. We got this out to the local media pronto, hoping to get some hot leads.
Friday afternoon, I encountered Det. Sgt. Luke Wilke in a workstation examining a screen full of mug shots and drivers license photos. "What's up?" I asked. "I'm chasing leads on the bank robbery," he said, "Everyone is calling to tell us it's their wife's ex-husband, and they all look just like the guy!"
Oh well, better to have plenty of leads than none at all. The photos and video will continue to improve, and we will have plenty of it.
It seems that convenience stores always have to best stuff first. Maybe it's because they are smaller and more agile than the big boys. A few years ago, one of our local banks had experienced four robberies at branches over a span of a few months. The COO, a friend of mine, called me up and asked me if there is anything I could think of that the bank could do. "Yeah," I said, "walk next door to the Kwik Shop, buy a big gulp, see what they have for cameras, and then buy the same thing for all your branch banks!"
Last week's bank robbery (the first since October 6, 2008) provides evidence that banks have caught up to 7-Elevens. This was a pretty good beauty shot of the robber--even better at full resolution. You can see his goatee, read the "B" on his cap, and notice the wedding band. Not bad at all. We got this out to the local media pronto, hoping to get some hot leads.
Friday afternoon, I encountered Det. Sgt. Luke Wilke in a workstation examining a screen full of mug shots and drivers license photos. "What's up?" I asked. "I'm chasing leads on the bank robbery," he said, "Everyone is calling to tell us it's their wife's ex-husband, and they all look just like the guy!"
Oh well, better to have plenty of leads than none at all. The photos and video will continue to improve, and we will have plenty of it.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Give that man a hand
Ever watched some high school basketball player throw up an ill-advised shot, while the coach mouths the word "No!", only to have the shot fall, and the coach shout "Nice shot!"?
Generally, I do not encourage citizens to physically intervene in crimes in progress. The standard advice is, "be a good witness." Nonetheless, there are many cases every year where a citizen or group of citizens steps into the breach and interrupt a crime in progress. Every time that happens I feel just a little like that coach: grimacing and grinning at the same time.
Such was the case on Saturday, when a customer in line at the Union Bank branch at 1300 N. 48th Street realized that the guy in the teller line was attempting to pull a robbery. The customer armed himself with a fire extinguisher opined to the robber that he worked for his money, and the fight was on. This was no little shoving match, but a genuine donnybrook. The news coverage didn't really do it justice. Fortunately, our citizen prevailed, took the suspect to the floor, and with the help of another onlooker detained him until officers arrived and the arrest was made.
Intervening carries many risks. The suspect could have a gun, or a long blade up his sleeve. The intervention could go bad and people could be hurt rather than the suspect merely running away. It could trigger a hostage-taking. I don't think any of this was running through the mind of this citizen, watching the ill-conceived crime go down. Rather, he was thinking what he said out loud, "I work hard for my money!" While it may not always be the soundest tactical move, and I do not recommend it, I admire the courage of all those who step forward, and thank them for their willingness to do so. They are frequently honored at LPD's awards ceremonies, and give a new meaning to the phrase "community policing."
By the way: the last robbery to occur at this particular branch was in November, 1996. One of the tellers involved was a 20 year-old University of Nebraska junior in the bank's student program, Thomas J. Casady, who still works for Union Bank & Trust.Wish I would have been Glad I wasn't in line behind that suspect, eyeballing a fire extinguisher.
Generally, I do not encourage citizens to physically intervene in crimes in progress. The standard advice is, "be a good witness." Nonetheless, there are many cases every year where a citizen or group of citizens steps into the breach and interrupt a crime in progress. Every time that happens I feel just a little like that coach: grimacing and grinning at the same time.
Such was the case on Saturday, when a customer in line at the Union Bank branch at 1300 N. 48th Street realized that the guy in the teller line was attempting to pull a robbery. The customer armed himself with a fire extinguisher opined to the robber that he worked for his money, and the fight was on. This was no little shoving match, but a genuine donnybrook. The news coverage didn't really do it justice. Fortunately, our citizen prevailed, took the suspect to the floor, and with the help of another onlooker detained him until officers arrived and the arrest was made.
Intervening carries many risks. The suspect could have a gun, or a long blade up his sleeve. The intervention could go bad and people could be hurt rather than the suspect merely running away. It could trigger a hostage-taking. I don't think any of this was running through the mind of this citizen, watching the ill-conceived crime go down. Rather, he was thinking what he said out loud, "I work hard for my money!" While it may not always be the soundest tactical move, and I do not recommend it, I admire the courage of all those who step forward, and thank them for their willingness to do so. They are frequently honored at LPD's awards ceremonies, and give a new meaning to the phrase "community policing."
By the way: the last robbery to occur at this particular branch was in November, 1996. One of the tellers involved was a 20 year-old University of Nebraska junior in the bank's student program, Thomas J. Casady, who still works for Union Bank & Trust.
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Uniformed officers rock!
Reading reports this morning, I encountered case number B5-005807, a robbery at gunpoint of a pizza delivery driver last night around 10:00 PM. Officer Russell Schoenbeck was assigned, and enlisted a lot of assistance from his fellow officers on the late night shift. In short order, the officers had tracked back a telephone number, and obtained a suspicious vehicle description from a neighborhood canvas. It wasn't long before other officers spotted the vehicle on the move, swooped in for the stop, and located key evidence. The suspects were taken into custody. All in all, great work leading to a good arrest.
It's the second robbery of a pizza delivery driver this year, and may have prevented more of these. We had seven delivery drivers robbed last year. What makes me especially pleased about this case is the initiative shown by all involved. Trust me, in many police department's of this size around the country, the uniformed officer would have done a preliminary investigation, filed an Incident Report, and been done. A detective would be assigned to the case a day or three later, and by that time the followup trail would be cold.
Not so in Lincoln, where our uniformed street officers have the training, skill, and experience to initiate their own followup investigation immediately. It's expected by all, and practiced regularly. This is why LPD officers who relocate to other departments are typically tapped for criminal investigations assignments in short order: they've got plenty of experience interviewing, processing evidence, obtaining search warrants, and similar tasks that are not necessarily common for uniformed officers in other big cities where the street officers don't have the same experience in the details of criminal investigation.
It's also why a number of LPD officers over the years have been tapped by the DEA, ATF, FBI, Secret Service, and have hit the ground running. They've accumulated talents, skill, and practice that many city officers just don't get very much opportunity to develop.
It hasn't always been that way. When I first pinned on the badge, every uniformed officer's badge was embossed with "Traffic Division," and we weren't expected to be bright enough to actually conduct investigations. That was the realm of the detectives, who stepped in and took over anything much bigger than a drunk or a panhandler. It was the source of considerable frustration for many uniformed officers of my era, who yearned for more respect, greater responsibility, and job enrichment.
It's the second robbery of a pizza delivery driver this year, and may have prevented more of these. We had seven delivery drivers robbed last year. What makes me especially pleased about this case is the initiative shown by all involved. Trust me, in many police department's of this size around the country, the uniformed officer would have done a preliminary investigation, filed an Incident Report, and been done. A detective would be assigned to the case a day or three later, and by that time the followup trail would be cold.
Not so in Lincoln, where our uniformed street officers have the training, skill, and experience to initiate their own followup investigation immediately. It's expected by all, and practiced regularly. This is why LPD officers who relocate to other departments are typically tapped for criminal investigations assignments in short order: they've got plenty of experience interviewing, processing evidence, obtaining search warrants, and similar tasks that are not necessarily common for uniformed officers in other big cities where the street officers don't have the same experience in the details of criminal investigation.
It's also why a number of LPD officers over the years have been tapped by the DEA, ATF, FBI, Secret Service, and have hit the ground running. They've accumulated talents, skill, and practice that many city officers just don't get very much opportunity to develop.
It hasn't always been that way. When I first pinned on the badge, every uniformed officer's badge was embossed with "Traffic Division," and we weren't expected to be bright enough to actually conduct investigations. That was the realm of the detectives, who stepped in and took over anything much bigger than a drunk or a panhandler. It was the source of considerable frustration for many uniformed officers of my era, who yearned for more respect, greater responsibility, and job enrichment.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Cash and carry
Nice arrest Saturday morning by Officer Cameron Cleland, who spotted the suspect vehicle across town who earlier had been involved in the robbery of the Subway sandwich shop in the Piedmont Shopping Center, right across the street from Fire Station 7.
Does holding up a fast food shop at 8:00 AM on a Saturday sound like a good idea? I think not. For that matter, stick-ups at retail businesses generally are a pretty poor plan for a person pondering professional pilfering. Why? There's just not much cash, anymore. To the the extent that retail holdups have always been high- risk, low-reward affairs, the declining use of cash has made the risk-reward ratio even less favorable.
Next time your in line at Subway, Starbucks, Sonic, Schlotsky's, or Samuri Sam's, note how many of your fellow customers are paying with cash, as compared to debit and credit cards. Not very many. Cash has gone the way of cursive. I took a four day trip to Vancouver, BC last fall with six bucks in my pocket--just in case I needed to tip a doorman. I came home with the same six bucks, having taxied about town, enjoyed several nice meals, and engaged in a bit of shopping with my lovely wife. Plastic was perfectly convenient for everything, and I opened all the doors without assistance.
I calculated the average take in robberies in 2013 at about 1/4th the average ten years ago in 2004. Robbery was always a poor choice for the aspiring criminal. Now, with the demise of cash, it's even more stupid.
Does holding up a fast food shop at 8:00 AM on a Saturday sound like a good idea? I think not. For that matter, stick-ups at retail businesses generally are a pretty poor plan for a person pondering professional pilfering. Why? There's just not much cash, anymore. To the the extent that retail holdups have always been high- risk, low-reward affairs, the declining use of cash has made the risk-reward ratio even less favorable.
Next time your in line at Subway, Starbucks, Sonic, Schlotsky's, or Samuri Sam's, note how many of your fellow customers are paying with cash, as compared to debit and credit cards. Not very many. Cash has gone the way of cursive. I took a four day trip to Vancouver, BC last fall with six bucks in my pocket--just in case I needed to tip a doorman. I came home with the same six bucks, having taxied about town, enjoyed several nice meals, and engaged in a bit of shopping with my lovely wife. Plastic was perfectly convenient for everything, and I opened all the doors without assistance.
I calculated the average take in robberies in 2013 at about 1/4th the average ten years ago in 2004. Robbery was always a poor choice for the aspiring criminal. Now, with the demise of cash, it's even more stupid.
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