In October 2005, federal authorities secured an arrest warrant for the 39- year-old resident of Powder Springs for one bank robbery. The warrant claims Brown robbed the Integrity Bank at 1650 Cumberland Parkway in Smyrna.

If convicted, Brown will join a list of notorious criminals that are a part of a national epidemic. The Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States published by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) reported (2001) that in the United States a bank robbery occurs every 52 minutes.

Los Angles has the dubious distinction for being "The Robbery Capital of the World." In 1991, the FBI recorded 2,355 bank robberies in the 5 county Los Angeles Area. That's nearly 5 times the robbery rate for the entire state of Georgia.

Bank robberies in Georgia reached a 3-year high in fiscal 2005 (which ended September 30). Last year the total number of robberies exceeded the 251 set in 2004. Total bank robberies in 2003 were 195.

Georgia has had its share of bank robbers that have achieved national recognition. Even though he did not practice his trade inside the state, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was born February 3, 1904 in Bartow County.

A figure in numerous bank robberies and murders, Pretty Boy Floyd was contemporary with such infamous gangsters as "Bonnie and Clyde," John Dillenger and Adam Richetti.

In April 2004, Grayling Bolston, 48, of Stone Mountain, Georgia was indicted by a federal grand jury on bank robbery and attempted bank robbery charges.

Named by investigators, as "the Perimeter Bandit," Bolston is believed to have committed 9 robberies and 2 failed attempts at banks situated near I-285. Seven of the banks robbed were Wachovia Branches and 2 were Suntrust.

The DeKalb County Police Department arrested Bolston on March 29, 2004.

More recently a 17-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, Stanley Street, 46, of Jonesboro, Georgia was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced on November 2, 2005 to 64 years and 3 months in federal prison.

In 3 separate incidents, June 29, 2004, July 20, 2004, and August 31, 2004, Police Officer Street, while brandishing an automatic weapon, robbed 2 Wachovia Banks (1 location twice) of more than $137,000.

Stanley Street's take was above the national average. According to the FBI, most bank robberies yield less than $5,000 in receipts.

Late last year, news commentators and comedy talk show hosts found humor in the robbery style of Candice Rose Martinez, 19, of Chantilly, Virginia. Labeled the "cell phone bandit," charged with one count of robbery, Martinez was caught on security cameras using her cell phone while executing the robberies.

The humor is missed considering that frequently bank robberies end in the death of law enforcement officers and/or the perpetrators; the taking of hostages; and or physical injuries sustained by patrons and bank employees.

Bank robberies cost banks and credit unions more than $10 million annually. In an effort to stem the rising tide of robberies in their 88 branches throughout metro-Atlanta, SouthTrust has instituted a "dress code."

Signs posted at entrances advise customers to remove head covering and sunglasses before entering the bank.

Fashioned after the "hats off" campaign instituted in 2002 by the Massachusetts Bankers Association, the policy is said to have drastically reduced robberies at participating banks.

More extreme robbery prevention measures involve the Bank of America "Greenbelt Project" that equips entrances and exists with weapons detection devices that trigger automatic locking doors.

Since in the past, bullet-proof glass and closed circuit cameras have not stopped robberies, in the future banks will expand the use of low and high technologies to combat holdups.