(MARCH 18, 1997 - Baltimore) - Shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday, February 7, a citizen happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. As he was passing by Provident Bank's branch at 518 E. Belvedere Avenue, he saw someone run outside and drop a bag of money as a dye pack exploded. He realized that he was witnessing a bank robbery, and had the presence of mind to call 911 on his cellular phone to report that the suspect had gotten into a taxicab. Baltimore City Police responded quickly and appehended the suspect a few blocks away.

This morning this gentleman is being rewarded for his quick thinking. The Baltimore Metropolitan Council's Executive Director Paul Farragut, representing a regional Bank Robbery Task Force; Marcia Goldman, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Provident Bank; and Lieutenant Lawrence Leeson, Robbery Unit, Baltimore City Police, are presenting Mr. Baily with a check for $1,000.

"Because of the incidence of bank robberies in the Baltimore area, the region's elected executives decided to create a task force of the banking community and law enforcement agencies to identify and adopt the best practices to deter would-be thieves," Mr. Farragut said. "One thing we want to do is publicize the fact that most bank robbers are caught. Bank robbery is one crime that really doesn't pay."

According to Joesph O'Hara, Bank Robbery Supervisor for the FBI, seventy-six percent of bank robberies result in arrest. Agent O'Hara presented this information to Anne Arundel County Executive John Gary, Baltimore County Executive Dutch Ruppersberger, Carroll County Commissioner Donald Dell, Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann and Howard County Executive Charles Ecker at the request of Baltimore City Mayor Kurt Schmoke. Mayor Schmoke felt it was especially important to involve leaders of the banking community in a cooperative strategy for dealing with this particular type of crime.

"For a long time criminals were able to use jurisdictional boundaries to avoid being caught," added Harford County Executive Eileen Rehrmann, who serves as BMC Chair. "Now our local police departments are working more closely with each other as well as with the banking community to exchange information and assist each other in apprehending criminals."