ADDICTS DRIVE RISE IN BANK ROBBERIES, POLICE SAY

The Hunt for Money to Buy Drugs Leads to Year-To-Year Doubling in
Number of Holdups, Making Vancouver National Leader

VANCOUVER -- A small cadre of drug-addict thieves has made Vancouver
the bank robbery capital of Canada - and maybe North America,
Vancouver police said yesterday.

On average, one bank gets robbed every business day in Vancouver,
nearly 19 times higher than the national average.

Bank robberies have more than doubled so far this year, compared with
the same period in 2007, said Doug LePard, Deputy Chief of Vancouver
police's Investigation Division.

Drug addicts are robbing banks to feed their drug habits and pay off
drug debts, he said. "Many of them have come to believe that this is
a comparatively easy way to make money," Deputy Chief LePard said.

Most bank robbers disguise themselves. Typical Vancouver bank robbers
don't wear a mask, but wear baseball caps, pull up hoods to hide
their faces or wear dark glasses, police say.

The banks will be asking people wearing such clothing to reveal
themselves. Some of the banks have already started doing so, said
Bill Crate, director of security for the Canadian Bankers
Association, adding that the banks will be respectful toward
religious headgear and regular customers.

"It's a careful balance," he said. "It's got to be accessible to the
public ... we don't want to create any kind of a fortress."

Mr. Crate spoke at a joint press conference with the Vancouver police
yesterday morning.

Bank robbery is becoming a crisis in Vancouver, police said. The
Vancouver Police Department recently arrested six bank robbers known
to each other but working separately. These six committed the
majority of robberies this year.

The police also released photos of two suspects in separate bank
robberies. Anyone with information is asked to contact the police or
CrimeStoppers.

Under a new prevention initiative, police officers will hand out
thousands of change purses in the downtown area with the message
"Bank robbers get caught." The change purse will have a Vancouver
police logo and a CrimeStoppers sticker inside with contact numbers.

"Bank robbers will get caught and they will go to jail," Deputy Chief
LePard said. The police call it an innovative technique to speak
directly to those who want to rob a bank.

The police force will also put extra police officers into the
project, and plainclothes officers to help identify and arrest bank robbers.

Roughly 80 to 90 per cent of Vancouver's robbery cases are solved,
and the robbers are convicted and sent to jail, Deputy Chief LePard said.

However, bank robberies cause a lot of trauma to the employees; some
never come back to work, Mr. Crate said.

"Bank robbery is a serious issue facing not only banks and the police
in this city, but all businesses and residents," he said.

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BY THE NUMBERS

BANK Robberies per 100,000 citizens in a year

National: 1.6

Toronto: 5

Vancouver: 30

Bank robberies, Vancouver

Total (2007): 189

To date (2008): 88 (increase of 125 per cent over the same period last year)