Why Borrow When You Can Steal?

The slogan of the Commerce Bank of New Jersey is "America's Most Convenient Bank." The slogan is apt. The bank has had 14 robberies in Manhattan since January. In his article in the New York Times, Dan Barry observes that the reason for this remarkable record "cannot simply be an extreme interpretation of the company's slogan: America's Most Convenient bank." The technique is fairly simple. Write out on a deposit slip, "I have a gun. Don't give me no trouble. Tens and twenties only; no funny business." The more experienced robbers add: "Don't give no dye packs." Thefts have ranged from a few hundred to thousands of dollars. For the most part, the banks' vulnerability appears to stem from their lack of bandit barriers in front of the tellers' cages. Recently, at the Commerce Bank's office at Third Avenue and 43rd Street, a man reached across the teller's counter and grabbed more than $2,000.