Vancouver bank robberies dwarf national average

VANCOUVER -- A small cadre of drug-addict thieves has made Vancouver the bank robbery capital of Canada - and maybe North America, Vancouver police said yesterday.

On average, one bank gets robbed every business day in Vancouver, nearly 19 times higher than the national average.

Bank robberies have more than doubled so far this year, compared with the same period in 2007, said Doug LePard, Deputy Chief of Vancouver police's Investigation Division.

Drug addicts are robbing banks to feed their drug habits and pay off drug debts, he said. "Many of them have come to believe that this is a comparatively easy way to make money," Deputy Chief LePard said.

By the numbers

BANK Robberies per

100,000 citizens in a year

National: 1.6

Toronto: 5

Vancouver: 30

Bank robberies, Vancouver

Total (2007): 189

To date (2008): 88 (increase of 125 per cent over the same period last year)