FBI data for 2010 show number of bank robberies declining nationwide and in Massachusetts

There were 5,546 bank robberies in the U.S. last year, accounting for about $42 million being stolen.

Republican file photoFile photo showing the Man in the Nice Hat robber who was suspected of robbing several area banks in November and December.

SPRINGFIELD – Bank robberies have gotten a lot of play in the Pioneer Valley in recent months, given the publicity of man-with-a-nice-hat robberies toward the end of the year, but new FBI statistics show the number of bank robberies both nationally and in Massachusetts declined in 2010 compared to the year before.

Numbers provided by the FBI for Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2010 show a total of 5,628 robberies at banks nationwide, down a little more than 6 percent from the 5,943 bank robberies in the same period of 2009.

A further comparison of the 2009 and 2010 FBI reports shows the amount of money taken in the robberies was also down, declining 7 percent from $45.9 million in ‘09 to $42.5 million last year.

The average haul, $7,732 in 2009 and $7,663 in 2010, showed a slight dip of about $70.

In each year, law enforcement recovered all or some of the loot in 22 percent of all robberies. In 2010, recovered loot totaled $8.19 million compared to $8.01 million the year before.

In the Northeast, bank robberies declined by 3.8 percent, or 1,024 in ‘09 to 985 last year. The region with the most robberies was the South with 1,790 and then the West with 1,691, but the South and West saw reductions of 10 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

The Northeast remained the least likely region in the United States to see bank robberies, but for the past two years, nearly seven of every 10 robberies in the region have occurred in the three Mid-Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In New England, Massachusetts accounted for 58 percent of the 294 bank robberies, roughly the same percentage as the year before.

Massachusetts tallied 170 robberies in 2010, down from 180 the year before.

Connecticut reported 56 robberies, down from 80 in 2009.

In an interesting note, while New England as a whole and Massachusetts and Connecticut each saw declines in bank robberies, the amounts for New Hampshire and Rhode Island more than doubled. New Hampshire and Rhode Island each had 11 bank robberies in 2009. Last year, New Hampshire reported 26 robberies, while Rhode Island had 27.

• Also in the 2010 data, the 5,546 robberies were committed by a total of 6,753 suspects, which works out to 1.2 suspects per heist. In real-life terms, that means most bank robberies are carried out by a single robber.