Some banks robbed more than others, experts say

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the same things that make banks convenient for customers make them an easy target for would-be robbers, experts say.

Since last February, four bank robberies have been reported in Portland -- two at a Key Bank branch in Pine Tree Shopping Center off Brighton Avenue and two at Gorham Savings Bank on Marginal Way. From these four incidents, only one arrest has been made.

Law enforcement experts say it's hard to draw conclusions about why any crime was committed at a given location. But they also admit factors like perceived bank security, proximity to "getaway routes" and whether or not the bank has been robbed before all help explain why some are hit while others are not.

"If you look at banks, the ones that are most vulnerable are the ones positioned where there's easy access," said Cumberland County Sheriff Mark Dion. "The one thing a bank robbery wants to do more than anything else after the commission of a robbery is to leave, so you have to think in terms of banks that provide (easy access to) an escape route."

Portland Police are investigating a bank robbery at Gorham Savings Bank at 71 Marginal Way from Wednesday afternoon, the second such robbery in six weeks. Portland Police say a black male entered the branch at about 3:20 p.m., brandished a weapon and fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect is described as being roughly six-foot-six, 250 pounds and in his mid-30s.

Portland Police Capt. Ted Ross said the suspect's appearance is similar to the suspect from another robbery at the same bank on Aug. 31. In that incident, a black male described to be in his late 20s standing six-foot-five and about 250 pounds threatened a teller and fled on foot with stolen cash. "We're thinking it's the same person for both but don't know for sure yet," Ross said.

There appears to be no link between incidents at Key Bank on Brighton Avenue. Police charged a transient in April for the robbery on March 4, although the suspect from a bank robbery on Sept. 16 is still at large.

Since last February, no other banks have been robbed in Portland. So, why were these two banks chosen while hundreds of other banks, equally close to highways left alone?

Mike McNamara, a spokesman for the Boston FBI office, which has jurisdiction over Maine, said there's no one answer to that question. Like Dion and others, McNamara said banks most frequently targeted are those that have "easy access and an easy getaway." But he also said there's more to it than just a robber seeking a quick exit.

"The other thing is, is it a good bank to hit?" he said in a Thursday telephone interview.

Investigators believe banks that have been "marked" by previous robberies become known to criminals. To illustrate this point, McNamara made the analogy to a diner at their favorite restaurant. "If you get a good meal, you're going to go back. And you're going to tell your buddies."

McNamara also said bank tellers are trained to give in to a robber's demands to get them out of the bank fast. Convenience stores and liquor stores, while still frequent targets, can more dangerous for criminals because a clerk or store owner "might pull a shotgun."

Studies have also shown that any crime victim, whether it's a person or a business, is much more likely to be victimized again. One such study released earlier this decade from Tallahassee, Fla., showed that 23 percent of banks that have a robbery get hit again within the same week. Some 51 percent get hit again in the same month.

Dion calls this phenomenon, which is well known in the law enforcement community, the concept of the recidivist victim. Dion says offenders that are successful in a given area tend to stick to that area, which is one reason why many large apartment buildings get burglarized repeatedly.

"With banks, if you're contemplating a robbery, lots of the banks don't get hit ever, and those that do get hit multiple times. But what's the lesson? Somehow robbery must work in that place," Dion said.

Richard Mears, a professor of justice studies at University of Maine at Augusta, discounted the recidivist victim theory to explain recent bank robberies in Portland. That theory usually includes people who go out of their way to be victimized, which "absent abject stupidity such as leaving themselves wide open" doesn't appear to be at play with local banks.

Mears says it's rare for any business to get robbed more than a handful of times but that so-called "environmental factors" like access to highways and the like are often a factor. Another common trait, he said, is that the same person is responsible for all of the crimes at a single location.

More broadly, he said, it's difficult to draw any conclusions from just two incidents without knowing whether the branches were robbed other times in the past.