Dumb criminals, sure, but what about the cops?

[Monkeyleg]

There's a bank near us that's been robbed two weeks in a row, both late Friday afternoons. My wife said she noticed that the police had staked the place out last week Friday.

Here's one of the kickers. The robber went through the drive-through for his robbery. The teller is behind bullet-proof glass. Why didn't he/she just tell the robber to go *expletive deleted*ck himself? Why hand money to a robber at a drive-through window, and not just once, but twice?

Here's the second kicker. Those cops on stakeout were in a standard cruiser with light bar and city decals. If their plan was to catch him in the act if he hits the same bank again, I don't think that would work. If they were there to scare him off, don't they think that he may just go and try to rob another bank?

I'm trying to decide who's the dumbest: the robber, the teller, or the cops.

[AZRedhawk44]

Can I vote all 3, with the robbers being least dumb?


We live in a society of roles and rules.

When you are in the role of the teller, it's the rule that you capitulate to the robber.  So say we all, and so shall it be.  Intelligence and/or courage are not needed.

When you are in the role of the cop, it's the rule that you make the dumb public feel happy so they keep withdrawing their Friday paychecks for weekend consumerism.  So, no undercover car.  Visible and public.  If it hinders the actual arrest, so be it.

When you are in the role of the robber, you already know you are entitled to a robbery.  No one will dare impede you.  It's not worth it to them to attempt to stop you. 

Robber is most cognizant of the rules, hence the least dumb.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Teller is the dumbest.

Seriously, a guy trys to rob a bank from the drive through and you don't laugh in his face (from behind the bullet proof glass)? Really?

[Boomhauer]

Im sure the popo thought sitting right *expletive deleted*ing there in a marked unit was retarded but it was most likely a command staff decision. We all know of the Peter principle and how it ensures one has the idiotic stuporvisors...

[Boomhauer]

Teller is the dumbest.

Seriously, a guy trys to rob a bank from the drive through and you don't laugh in his face (from behind the bullet proof glass)? Really?

Bank policy. Hand over the money or be fired.

[zxcvbob]

Was it at least Explody Purple Dye money?

[BlueStarLizzard]

Bank policy. Hand over the money or be fired.

Well, I know several bank tellers who'd be fired. 

[TechMan]

I am with AZ on this one, all 3.

I think somebody at the bank should examine and modify the policy to exclude robberies at the drive up window.

[MechAg94]

At my credit union, the drive through is either through one of those sliding drawers or the tube chute.  How the hell do you let someone rob you that way?  Someone at the bank should have reviewed and changed their policy immediately after the first robbery much less than second. 

[vaskidmark]

I am with AZ on this one, all 3.

I think somebody at the bank should examine and modify the policy to exclude robberies at the drive up window.

Several years ago there was a bank robber going around shoving a "command cdetonated" grenade in the drive-up window box and instructing the teller to give him money or be blown up.  Worked 4 times in a row. Then a drive-up teller shoved the box back out, locked it in that position, and proceeded to catalog the robber's personal habits, hygiene, ancestry and (I believe) choice of pets, all while calling 9-1-1.  Two other tellers rushed out to the parking lot and blocked the idjit in - one in front & one in back.  Driver's door blocked by wall, passerger door blocked by the remote carrier for the next lane over.  (No, those were not fortuitous accidents but clever security design work.)

Knowing the robber was blocked in the cops took their time arriving, and waited to see if the conversation was over rather than interrupting.  They did record everything - audio as well as video.  Lots of folks picked it up on their scanners and saved it to hard disk.

The word "pathetic" was the kindest used in describing the robber as he was arrested and put in the back of the cruiser.  For some reason the TV stations did not play the audio that was available.

The three tellers split an FBI reward.  There was scutlebutt that the bank was going to dock their pay for the time taken, till that rumor became public.  The bank took out a full-page ad assuring everyone their tellers' pay would not be docked and that they received lovely prizes (left-over toasters & alarm clocks?).

Will that ever happen again?  Never!

stay safe.

[Devonai]

Just to play devil's advocate:  

Sequence of events as envisioned by nervous Nellie bank executives:

1. Driver pulls up to drive-through window, initiates robbery attempt.

2. Teller plays along just long enough for the manager to lock all the doors.

3. Teller goes "neener neener vacuum cleaner" to robber.

4. Robber pulls around, gets out, blasts open doors with 12-gauge, kills everyone.

5. Victims families sue the bank into the stone age.

You can't say it couldn't happen!  

[DustinD]

I think a de-milled grenade with the pin pulled in the vacuum tube would be a fun way to deal with would be drive through robbers. It would help let robbers know what the bank thinks of their antics.

[Lee]

It's policy dammit...nothing trumps policy!  Never, ever think.

[birdman]

I think a de-milled grenade with the pin pulled in the vacuum tube would be a fun way to deal with would be drive through robbers. It would help let robbers know what the bank thinks of their antics.

Better yet, a CS grenade.
Pull the pin, set it so the spoon is restrained by door, and fill the rest of the tube with low denomination bills.
Bad guy opens tube and pulls out money, and whammo.

[Boomhauer]

I think a de-milled grenade with the pin pulled in the vacuum tube would be a fun way to deal with would be drive through robbers. It would help let robbers know what the bank thinks of their antics.

I was actually thinking a real frag with say a 10 sec fuse.

"April Fool mother *expletive deleted*er!"

[Pharmacology]

Teller is the dumbest.

Seriously, a guy trys to rob a bank from the drive through and you don't laugh in his face (from behind the bullet proof glass)? Really?

I'm pretty sure the bullet proof glass isn't a bullet proof cube, and giving money to an armed robber via an armored window seems preferable to handing it to them over a wooden counter once they come inside.

[cordex]

Oddly, the wife of one of my friends was the teller at a bank robbed recently.

I don't know that a frag grenade would go through the tube - they always say not to stick rolled coins in them, don't they?  I don't know what their carrying capacity is, but it can't be that much.

Several of the banks I go to have bulletproof partitions between the tellers and the customers.  One bank I used to use put in a metal detector and denies access to anyone with a gun.

[gunsmith]

No such a thing as bullet proof glass, I bet when they sell it they call it bullet resistant glass.
I'll tell you what, I aint standing behind bullet proof glass to test it to see how good it works.
I am also willing to bet that its rated to resist pistol caliber, if the criminal is using a draco 

[MechAg94]

I'm pretty sure the bullet proof glass isn't a bullet proof cube, and giving money to an armed robber via an armored window seems preferable to handing it to them over a wooden counter once they come inside.

if you are unarmed. 

[griz]

I'm not sure the cops were dumb on this one.  I can imagine a scenario where after the first robbery the cops ask the same question we did: "why don't you tell them to wait there while you call us?" The people at the bank that get paid to think decide that's too risky, and get robbed again.  Then they complain that the cops aren't doing anything to stop the robbers, so they sit there every Friday with a black and white robber repellant.  The object is to stop another robbery, not to catch the robbers.

[Tallpine]

Oddly, the wife of one of my friends was the teller at a bank robbed recently.

I don't know that a frag grenade would go through the tube - they always say not to stick rolled coins in them, don't they?  I don't know what their carrying capacity is, but it can't be that much.

Several of the banks I go to have bulletproof partitions between the tellers and the customers.  One bank I used to use put in a metal detector and denies access to anyone with a gun.

While in HS I had a job working at a bank.  One of my jobs was to go out with a snake and clear out the vacumm tube when somebody put too much weight in it.  It actually took several rolls of coins to stop it as I recall.

Policy or no policy, if I were "telling" a drive up window and somebody threatened me with a gun, I would be down on the floor and gone 

[makattak]

While in HS I had a job working at a bank.  One of my jobs was to go out with a snake and clear out the vacumm tube when somebody put too much weight in it.  It actually took several rolls of coins to stop it as I recall.

Policy or no policy, if I were "telling" a drive up window and somebody threatened me with a gun, I would be down on the floor and gone 

 I have no idea if this is an urban legend, but I recall tell of a bank teller (tell of a teller? get it!?) manning a (bullet-resistant) drive-up when a gun was pulled and money demanded who calmly put up a "Next Window Please" sign and walked away.

[BlueStarLizzard]

I'm pretty sure the bullet proof glass isn't a bullet proof cube, and giving money to an armed robber via an armored window seems preferable to handing it to them over a wooden counter once they come inside.

You could lock the door and keep the power money hungry maniac at bay.

[Rodensouth]

I can only dream of a world where lawyers and liability haven't turned most into passive cooperatives for the thugs. Wouldn't it be awesome to see the look on a perps face when you poked the barrel of a 12 gauge through the strategically placed 2 inch shooting port in the glass. 
The "resistant" glass may not be perfect, but Lordy my odds are much better than theirs!

There is no way that I can think of to truly push back on such crime without a few of the good guys getting bloody too. Collateral damage will happen when at odds with evil, but it sure sounds better to me than submissive posturing.

I'm not chest-thumping, as I've not been in a gunfight and only hope I would react to my liking later. However, history proves that many would and shouldn't be punished for being brave.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

There's a bank near us that's been robbed two weeks in a row, both late Friday afternoons. My wife said she noticed that the police had staked the place out last week Friday.

Here's one of the kickers. The robber went through the drive-through for his robbery. The teller is behind bullet-proof glass. Why didn't he/she just tell the robber to go *expletive deleted* himself? Why hand money to a robber at a drive-through window, and not just once, but twice?

Here's the second kicker. Those cops on stakeout were in a standard cruiser with light bar and city decals. If their plan was to catch him in the act if he hits the same bank again, I don't think that would work. If they were there to scare him off, don't they think that he may just go and try to rob another bank?

I'm trying to decide who's the dumbest: the robber, the teller, or the cops.

It's not the teller's money, why should he/she care? Rules are to hand the cash over, and a lot of people don't think too clearly or cleverly when you stick a gun in their face.