By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

If you are donning a hat and shades at First National Bank of Carrollton, don't expect to get served.

It's one of 30 banks in the 200-member Kentucky Bankers Association to adopt a no-hat, no-hood, no-sunglasses policy in an attempt to curb bank robberies.

The policy has been adopted statewide in Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina - and might be coming to Cincinnati banks soon.

"We understand the program in Missouri has been very successful," says Fifth Third Bank spokeswoman Stacie Haas. "We haven't instituted it here yet, but we will continue to entertain the idea."

While Massachusetts bank officials - who first conceived the idea - say it's hard to say how many robberies the policy has prevented, they think it is a deterrent. Retired FBI agent Bill Rehder, who co-authored a true-life crime book on Los Angeles bank robbers, calls that belief "wishful thinking."

The program likely won't stop the kind of gun-toting criminals depicted in Hollywood action flicks, says Deborah Stamper, general council for the Kentucky Bankers Association. Instead, it targets the most common type of bank robbery, known as "note jobs," in which someone enters a bank quietly and passes the teller a note demanding cash.

Many times these robbers try to conceal their identity upon entering the bank, so she says getting customers to remove hats and hoods could cut thieves off at the pass. If someone doesn't comply, bank employees notice them - and that's something robbers try to avoid.

First National Bank of Carrollton, the closest bank to Cincinnati to adopt the policy, hasn't received any complaints - though many in the rural farming community don't remove their baseball caps.

"This is a small town," says First National teller Nancy Anderson. "A lot of customers have come in and asked me why they should remove their hat since they know me."

There are signs posted at each of the two entrances to the bank's headquarters on U.S. 42 in Carrollton. Additional information on the program is available at the teller windows.

"I think it is a good idea," says bank customer William Miller, 70, of Carrollton. "Any little thing the bank can do to deter robberies is good. We don't have much serious crime here, and we want to keep it that way."

Kentucky's program is modeled after the plan in Massachusetts, where about 75 percent, or 1,500 of the state 2,000 banks, have adopted the no hats, no sunglasses policy.

"The banks and customers here have embraced it," says Bruce Spitzer, spokesman for the Massachusetts Banking Association. "There was some concern when we adopted it two years ago that customers would be irritated, but the vast majority have not complained.

"In a world where we take our shoes off at the airport, I guess this doesn't seem too intrusive."

Spitzer said the idea was suggested in a private industry report looking at ways to decrease robberies, particularly in Boston.

It's hard to say what impact the policy has had among the at least five states that have adopted it.

After Massachusetts booked a record 265 bank robberies in 2001, officials enacted the policy halfway through 2002. That year, police recorded 225 bank robberies. However, the number jumped to 300 in 2003.

Missouri had better results. Bank robberies there dropped 36 percent during the first year of the program. From May 20, 2003, to this past May 1, Missouri experienced 75 robberies; down from 117 holdups during the same period a year before.

Rehder, a Los Angeles-based security consultant, says bank robberies fluctuate with the economy and many other factors. He was not aware of any scientific studies of the effect of the no-hats, no-shades policy.

"I'm in favor of anything that works, but I can't say the program has been a success in Massachusetts," says Rehder. "Robberies in Boston have not gone down. Banks there are grasping with this."

There are more-proven ways to decrease robberies, Rehder said, but they cost lots of money. They include bandit-barrier glass and entranceways equipped with magnetometers that automatically lock the bank's door if they detect a weapon.

But Fort Wright Police Chief Dan Kreinest likes the idea so much, he said counties should adopt local ordinances making it illegal to wear hats or sunglasses into banks.

"I'm for anything we can do to make it easier to identify and prosecute a suspect," he says. "It's in the community's best interest."

Kentucky's 13 most-northern counties have recorded five robberies since June 30. The last was the June 14 robbery of the Bank of Kentucky Fort Wright branch.

Lexington police like the idea too. Police Chief Anthony Beatty, has endorsed it and convinced several Lexington banks, including Central Bank, to post no-hats, no-sunglasses signs.

"This is a very easy and unobtrusive way to help solve bank problems," says Assistant Chief Ken Hall, spokesman for the Lexington police. "Some of our officers observed the programs in other communities and brought it back to Lexington."

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com