15. Banks fight back against robberies
Beginning in the 1930s, and in some cases even earlier in larger cities and towns, banks installed security mechanisms to protect themselves and their employees from robberies. Alarm buzzers and bells, which rang loudly inside and outside of the bank, were one of the earliest. The bells notified law enforcement of a robbery taking place in the bank, and often caused the robbers to flee without obtaining any, or at least not very much, cash for their efforts. Bells and sirens were replaced in many cases by silent alarms, which sent a signal to law enforcement, allowing them to confront the robbers as they exited the buildings, after several instances when robbers reacted to the loud alarms by shielding themselves with employees and customers as hostages.
In the early afternoon of April 12, 1957, Steven Ray Thomas and Wanda DiCenzi entered the St. Clair Savings and Loan in Cleveland, and while Steven held a teller at gunpoint Wanda stole about $2,000 from the cash drawers, and the two made their escape, driven from the scene by a third accomplice, Rose O’Donnell. Unbeknownst to the three was that they were being monitored by security cameras, the film from which was broadcast that night on national television. All three were identified by persons who knew them and subsequently captured by the Cleveland police. They were the first bank robbers to be caught through the use of security cameras, though they were far from the last, as local newscasts have broadcast the video images of thieves on a routine basis ever since.