Editing Bank robbery (section)

===Characteristics===
The [[Australian Institute of Criminology]] analyzed trends in bank robbery over a four-year period. Of the 808 bank robbery incidents between January 1998 and May 2002 in which the number of offenders involved in the hold-up was recorded, 55% were committed by lone offenders, 25% by pairs, and 20% by three or more robbers. Unarmed offenders accounted for 28% of robberies, caused the fewest injuries to victims (one percent of all victims' injuries), were the type of robber who most often used a note to threaten bank staff (46% of all their robberies), and failed most often in their robbery attempts (33% failure). Unarmed gangs inflicted the most injuries to victims (51%) and failed the least in their robbery attempts (6% failure). Armed robbers used a disguise more often compared to unarmed robbers, with armed pairs employing disguises most often (59%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aic.gov.au/about_aic/research_programs/staff/smith_russell.html|title=Australian Institute of Criminology – Russell G Smith|access-date=5 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214202735/http://aic.gov.au/about_aic/research_programs/staff/smith_russell.html|archive-date=14 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics injuries occur in about two percent and a death occurs in less than one percent of all U.S. bank robberies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t31512008.pdf |title=Pastore, Ann L. and Kathleen Maguire, eds.: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, Table 3.151.2008 |access-date=2012-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t31492008.pdf |title=Pastore, Ann L. and Kathleen Maguire, eds.: Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, Table 3.149.2008 |access-date=2012-03-28}}</ref> Violent takeover bank robberies that are often portrayed in the media are rare. The majority of bank robberies taking place today are so-called "note jobs." These are usually accomplished by simply passing a written note to the teller demanding money. The idea is to attract as little attention as possible. In most cases, other customers present in the bank during a robbery are unaware of what is occurring. Standard bank policy is to avoid violence as much as possible, so they will normally hand over the money and try to obey the robber's demands. The robber usually makes away with cash, but in small amounts. According to [[British Bankers' Association]] data, in 2007 there were 106 attempted or successful robberies in Britain in which an average of 1.6 persons were involved. One third of attempts came up empty while the average haul for a successful attempt was equivalent to US$46,600. Yet 20% of the successes would later prove less than successful by virtue of the robbers being arrested.<ref>Barry Reilly, Neil Rickman, Robert Witt, [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2012.00570.x/abstract Robbing Banks: Crime does pay – but not very much] ''[[Significance (magazine)|Significance]]'' Volume 9, Issue 3, pages 17–21, June 2012</ref>