In new legislation that banking and law enforcement officials say may be the first of its kind, robbers in Maryland could face stiffer prison sentences if they use a threatening note to carry out their crime.
The General Assembly approved the legislation to penalize note-passing in robberies in a little-noticed act before it adjourned last week. The law applies to robberies carried out anywhere, although it is aimed at curbing bank holdups, which have been on the increase in the state in recent years.
"This is something that's frequently done in bank robberies," said Sen. Robert J. Garagiola, a Montgomery County Democrat. "They pass over a note that says `I have a bomb under my coat' or `I have a gun.' They know the tellers are trained not to resist, and they end up walking away with thousands of dollars."
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s office is reviewing the legislation, spokesman Henry Fawell said.
Lawmakers took up the issue after prompting from area bankers. The legislators decided to target "note passers" after abandoning a proposal from the state's banking lobby to create harsher penalties for robberies of banks over other establishments.
Some bank security experts, however, believe the compromise may be too narrow to be effective in the long run.
Several states have rewritten criminal statutes to single out bank robbers for tougher sentences than those who knock off other businesses. Bank holdups account for a fraction of robberies nationwide, but more than $70 million is taken from banks every year. About a fifth of the money is recovered, according to the FBI.
Under the Maryland legislation, robbers who declared in writing that they had a "dangerous weapon" could get up to 20 years in prison, whether they have a weapon or not - the same maximum penalty as if they did possess a weapon. Unarmed robbery still carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
Security experts said criminals could alter their tactics to get around the law.
"It's not going to take criminals out there any time at all to figure this out," said William J. Rehder, a consultant and retired FBI bank robbery investigator who spoke last year to the Maryland Association for Bank Security. "They're either going to say to themselves, `I'm not going to mention a gun in this note' or `I'm going to make an oral demand and mention the gun.'"
"I'm surprised this was so half-baked," he said of the legislation.
