Three banking companies with branches in Chicago are working with law enforcement officials to help stem a recent surge in bank robberies.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's Charter One Bank, TCF Financial Inc., and Bank of Montreal's Harris Bank have agreed to offer $10,000 in reward money for each tip to law enforcement officials that leads to the arrest of people who robbed any of their branches.
There were a record 238 bank robberies in the Chicago area last year, including 51 "takeover robberies" in which criminals took over the bank, instead of simply passing a note to a teller, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There have been 50 robberies this year.
Robert Grant, the special agent who heads the FBI's Chicago office, said in a press release that he believed the reward money would help stem the robberies.
