A new Web site that encourages people to e-mail tips on bank robberies has already helped law enforcement officials in Maryland nab a suspect.
The Maryland Association for Bank Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation jointly launched the site, www.bankbandits.org, in December. It has photos of robbery suspects taken by bank cameras during holdups in Maryland, Washington, and northern Virginia, along with more information about the suspect and the robbery.
The site also gives the e-mail address or phone number of the investigator in charge of the case, as well as a reward offer by the banks, the FBI, and the nonprofit Crime Stoppers support organization.
Rob Smetzer, the president of the Maryland group and the bank security officer at the $2 billion-asset Farmers and Mechanics Bank in Frederick, Md., said that after ads for the site ran on TV stations and in local newspapers, the site received numerous tips. A suspect it featured has been arrested, he said.
The obvious difference between the Web site and conventional phone tip lines is that people can view photos that might jog their memories. Also, it is set up to let people contact investigators directly, "so the communication gap is gone," Mr. Smetzer said.
A growing number of banks are working together to create these types of Web sites, but most of them have been for banks and law enforcement agencies only. The Florida Bankers Association in 2002 started www.fraud-net.com, which holds a database of robberies and fraudulent activities at banks and now operates in 22 states.
Also in 2002, banker groups from 10 Midwest states started www.fincrime.com. It is similar to the Florida group's site but is modeled on a system the Iowa Bankers Association has been using for almost a decade.
Bret Rock, a spokesman for the Florida group, said law enforcement officials have told it that the information shared on fraud-net has helped them apprehend more suspects. Moreover, bankers report that they have been able to thwart crimes after alerts about repeat offenders or specialized scams were posted on fraud-net.
Very few law enforcement Web sites are open to the public, Mr. Smetzer said. The Maryland bankers group patterned its site on www.publiceyes.org, started in 2003 by a group of bankers in central Ohio and the FBI office in Columbus, Ohio.
F. Andrew Reardon, a bank security officer for the $513 million-asset Commerce National Bank in Columbus, said participating banks and law enforcement officials have received a lot of positive feedback from the public about the site.
"Before, people may have seen a picture" on TV of a robbery suspect, "but then the picture is gone," Mr. Reardon said. "The Web site enables people to view pictures continuously, and then they can call the lead investigator, who has the knowledge to ask them better questions than a volunteer manning a tip line could."
Harry Trombitas, the FBI special agent who administers the site, said there have been about 90 bank robberies a year on average in the Columbus area since the launch of the publiceyes site, slightly lower than in previous years. He said there was no way to tell what role the site had in the reduction, and he said annual bank robbery data tends to be cyclical and to fluctuate widely depending on economic conditions.
Still, he said, about 80% of bank robberies are committed by repeat offenders, so the annual numbers may be down, because suspects are being apprehended more quickly and because there have been more tips - and better ones - from the public. Local newspapers, TV, and radio stations enhance publiceyes' effectiveness by disseminating photos and information from the site.
Mr. Reardon and Mr. Smetzer said the bank security officers in their regions meet regularly to pass on tips about robbery and fraud, "but that is very private," Mr. Reardon said, "and so it's good to also have a Web site that gets the public involved."
