Banking security experts in the US are blaming the height at which CCTV cameras are mounted as one reason why bank robberies are so prevalent. In Washington State alone there have been 117 robberies so far this year.“With most bank security cameras positioned in front of and above customers, the hats and hoods that robbers use to disguise their identities are often successful because the cameras capture the peak of a cap or brim of a hat,” says an FBI expert. "Even if you zoom in, all you're getting is the tighter picture of a baseball cap. Banks can spend billions of dollars on surveillance systems, and it's meaningless."
Many banks have begun heeding the FBI’s advice that they lower their surveillance cameras to capture better images of robbers' faces instead of their headwear. For example, all City Credit Union have lowered their cameras to 1.8m.
