Baden Russell-Petigrow, Centretown News
Security measures at banks may help prevent robberies. Ottawa has seen a drastic increase in the number of bank robberies since the start of 2015, with Centretown and Ottawa East as the main targets.
Since January there have already been 16 separate bank robbery incidents. In 2014, there were 30 bank robberies total in Ottawa compared to the six this year.
Police are unable to release many specific details about the robberies, as that could potentially compromise their ongoing investigations. While they can’t release the names of the banks involved, they can tell location details to help the public identify suspects to aid in police investigations.
Staff Sgt. Michael Haarbosch, of the Ottawa Police Service, says there is no way to predict when a spike in robbery activity can happen.
“Spikes are not unusual. One suspect or group gets on a bit of a spree, until the situation gets brought under control and there’s an arrest,” he says. “If we make an arrest and solve one of them, we’ll solve a bunch of them. It’s not just one suspect either.”
Ottawa police works closely with Crime Stoppers to get the public to help identify suspects, especially in the case of these bank robberies.
In February, Crime Stoppers said it was offering its maximum reward of $2,000 for information on two specific bank robberies.
The first occurred on Feb. 5 at a bank in the 1600 block of Montreal Road. The second took place on Feb. 8 at a bank in the 2300 block of St. Joseph’s Blvd.
Art Wong, co-ordinator for the National Capital Area Crime Stoppers, says Crime Stoppers bridges the gap between those who have specific information and the police.
“By providing the maximum reward, hopefully that will be an incentive for someone out there to come forward,” Wong says. “That’s the benefit of working (with the public) on this. Perhaps someone knows the suspect, they can contact Crime Stoppers and not worry about being identified.”
Both Haarbosch and Wong say the banks themselves have their own security protocols. An RBC employee, who did not want to be identified, says all of their employees are given instruction on how to handle bank robbery incidents.
Kate Payne of the Canadian Banker’s Association, agrees. She says the ultimate goal is to prevent robberies. “Banks have extensive security measures in place to act as a deterrent to robberies in the first place.”
However, the systems are not foolproof. In the case of robberies, the objective is to lessen any damage.
“If you happen to be part of a bank robbery, don’t be a hero,” Wong says. “If you can safely get a good look at the suspect to help out the police, that’s good. But otherwise, make sure you stay out of harm’s way.”