Bill would require outdoor cameras

PROVIDENCE – Banks and credit unions would be required to install outdoor security cameras to deter robbers and speed the identification of suspects under legislation introduced by state Rep. Stephen R. Ucci.
The bill would mandate that all financial institutions videotape customer entrances and exits, ATMs and night-deposit slots. No all banks in Rhode Island have systems to monitor inside and outside their banks, said Ucci, D-Johnston.
Ucci said his assembled the legislation in response to a September 2010 robbery at an ATM outside a Citizens Bank in Woonsocket. A 49-year-old gas station employee was shot to death as he made a business deposit.
Two suspects were eventually arrested based on witness accounts.
Eyewitness accounts eventually led to the apprehension of two suspects in the murder.
“If that bank had been required to install security cameras outside of its building years ago, the victim may still be alive today,” Ucci said. “A robber’s primary goal is to get in and out of the bank or ATM as quickly as possible without being recognized. A surveillance camera capturing a criminal’s face and other identifiable traits would certainly discourage robbery attempts and serve as a deterrent to robbers.”