Most robberies occurred on Friday in the morning

Last year an estimated $61.9m was stolen from US banks, new government figures revealed.

Between January and December 2008 there were over 6,700 robberies as well as 121 burglaries and 28 thefts reported by financial firms in the US, according to the FBI.

Most of the crimes occurred on Friday. And regardless of the day of the week incidents in the morning, between 9am and 11am, were the most common.

The statistics showed a slight decrease from the 6,933 reported violations in 2007. However, not all crimes are reported to the police, which means, the actual number of bank crimes is probably much higher.

“Violence was committed in around 4% of the incidents and on 53 occassions hostages were taken.

Violence was committed in around 4% of the incidents and on 53 occassions hostages were taken.

Twenty-one deaths occurred during these incidents, including 17 perpetrators, one employee and three deaths classified as ‘other’. No law enforcement officers were killed responding to the crimes.

‘We recognize that these crimes take a serious financial toll on the community,’ said Assistant Director Kevin Perkins, FBI Criminal Investigative Division. ‘The FBI remains committed to working with local authorities and bank officials to catch bank bandits and prevent bank crimes from occurring.’