New website will track bank robberies
The American Bankers Association has launched a new website that will allow more timely reporting of bank robbery data from Las Vegas and nationwide.
ABABankCapture.com will let participating banks enter data from incidents of robbery, burglary and ATM robbery and assaults and make them available to other banks participating in the site.
"ABA Bank Capture provides an invaluable tool for banks and law enforcement to detect and deter bank crimes," Larry Brown, chairman of the ABA Bank Security Committee, said Thursday in announcing the new website.
Brown said the site will give banks the ability to more deeply analyze crime trends and be alerted to crimes occurring at other banks in their vicinity.
The FBI also tracks bank robbery statistics and the new site will integrate with its efforts, the association said.
But where the FBI only releases data quarterly, the new website will try to update bankers in Las Vegas to crime trends more quickly.
According to FBI statistics, there have been 35 bank robberies in Las Vegas since Jan. 1, with 19 of those robberies taking place since Aug. 1. There have been two armored-truck robberies in Las Vegas this year.
Kevin McMenimen, president and CEO of Enabl-u Technologies, said the system was designed to enhance banker and law enforcement to bank crimes. Enabl-u Technologies is a division of ISO Crime Analytics, which built the data management system.
Brown said the new program is designed to get real-time robbery and ATM crime alerts; benchmark against their peers; track incidents regardless of location; enhance communication with law enforcement; and reduce bank losses.
In the future, member banks will also enter information on other types of bank fraud. The database includes 2008, 2009, 2010 and year-to-date incidents in Las Vegas and nationwide.
For example, data collected by the new system would include incidents like Saturday's robbery of a pregnant woman at an automatic teller machine outside of a bank in the area of Rainbow Boulevard and Spring Valley Parkway.
Although credit unions are also included in the FBI statistics, the association's site is not yet open to credit union participation.
Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at
csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.
