Surveillance cameras are a good investment for payday loan stores.

The payday loan police have been pretty busy lately, tracking down and locking up men who are suspected of robbing multiple businesses, including several payday loan stores.

The first payday loan store robbery story I have for you comes out of Indiana, where a man is accused of robbing a shocking number of payday loan stores.

From NWI.com:

Police said they have arrested a man suspected of robbing 16 payday loan stores in Illinois and Indiana during the past four months.

Lewis Gilbert III, 45, of Schererville, was taken into custody Monday at his girlfriend’s Hammond home, but he wasn’t immediately jailed because he fell ill during questioning and was hospitalized. He was charged Tuesday with one count of robbery and he faces additional charges.

According to police, Gilbert robbed five stores in Indiana — including stores in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties — and 11 in Illinois. Valparaiso police Detective Dan Koepke estimated about $30,000 was taken during the robbery spree.

What took you so long?

Sheesh, this guy robbed 16 stores before police caught him? There must be some kind of issue up there in Indiana. Perhaps the payday loan stores need to beef up their security. And it wouldn’t hurt for the police to be a tad more diligent, methinks.

But wait, that’s not all! I have more payday loan store robbery mayhem for you. This next story takes place in Wichita, Kansas.

From the Wichita Eagle:

Wichita police have issued an arrest warrant for a second man linked to a series of robberies this summer.

Police say Lloyd Preston Adams, 36, is a suspect in recent robberies of at least two cash advance businesses — including the Loan Smart at 1716 E. Central on July 28.

…

A 31-year-old man was arrested Friday morning in connection with the case, police have said.

Investigators say the two men may be responsible for the robberies of six payday loan businesses, one restaurant and four motels between April 19 and July 28.

Serious serials

So these guys didn’t allegedly rob 16 different places like Gilbert, but they still have gotten away with quite a bit, if they are, in fact, the perpetrators.

Well, those two stories have a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, in that at least one person has been caught in both cases. Police investigating a recent payday loan store robbery in Arizona haven’t been so lucky yet.

From ABC15.com:

Authorities say police are investigating an armed robbery at a Tempe payday loan store on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Tempe Police spokesman Scott Smith, two armed men walked into Cool Cash, near McClintock Drive and Guadalupe Road, about 2 p.m., where they demanded cash from a clerk.

They were described as Hispanic males, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 155 pounds, wearing dark shirts.

It was unclear how much money the suspects took during the robbery.

Smith said no one was hurt.

Kansas seems to be a pretty popular place for payday loan store robberies. However, the workers at payday loan stores are getting wise. Check out this story from The Wichita Eagle:

WICHITA — Two men attempted to rob a payday loan business Monday, but were foiled when an employee was able to lock the doors and call the police.

The two men approached the Ace Cash Express at 801 S. Woodlawn around 8:40 a.m. and attempted to force an employee into the building, police said.

One of the men was armed, but the woman was able to lock the men out and call police.

The suspects then fled. There were no injuries or losses reported.

Protecting businesses

In this case, a simple door lock and a willful employee were all it took to stop the robbers and protect the cash, not to mention the store employees. However, in most cases technology of a bit higher caliber helps out a lot.

In various reports I’ve written about payday loan store robberies, surveillance cameras and silent alarms have helped catch criminals. Payday loan store owners should make safety their No. 1 priority.

A liquid asset

Banks are well-know for having top-of-the line security systems. Banks have huge amounts of cash on hand, and thus they expect to get robbed. So they’ve done everything they can to protect their assets and workers.

Though payday loan stores don’t have nearly as much cash as banks, they are often targeted for the same reason as banks. Any business that deals in handing out cash has to have  a lot of it lying around. Payday loan stores get target because of their cash, but many don’t protect their cash very well. Criminals often get away with the money and are never found.

Perhaps payday loan store should start to think like banks, realizing that they could, and probably will be robbed. Perhaps that will help payday loan store owners develop better strategies for protecting their employees, business and cash.

Wichita Police believe that the same man committed five payday loan store robberies in the city this month. The man possibly has an accomplice, but this surveillance photo was released of the man thought to be involved in all five robberies.

Police say:

In each occurrence, the suspect enters the store armed with a handgun with his face covered by a bandanna and demands money from the cash drawers and safes.

Not-so-merry month of June

The string of robberies started June 6, when two payday loan stores were hit in the same day. The most recent robbery was June 19. In four of the five attempts, the gunman got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. The Wichita Eagle reports:

The robber hit the EZ PayDay Advance at 2548 S. Seneca twice, on June 6 and again June 13.

Other targets were the EZ PayDay Advance stores at 3570 N. Woodlawn on June 6, Advance America Cash Advance at 1353 S. Webb Road on June 12, and Check Into Cash at 7809 E. Harry on Friday.

Partners in crime?

Police believe the robber might have an accomplice. The CW news affiliate in Kansas reports:

Police are also asking for your help in finding a possible get-away vehicle. It is described as a copper-colored Chevrolet Corsica.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Wichita Police Department’s Robbery Section at 268-4177 or Crime Stoppers at 267-2111.

More mayhem in Madison

Last week, a payday lender in Madison, Wisconsin, also was robbed. News source WKOW in Wisconsin issued the following news release:

A common occurrence

Security is important at any business, but payday lenders get targeted often because they keep a large amount of cash on hand. This year payday loan stores in Washington, Indiana, Iowa, Texas, California and more have been targeted. In most cases the robberies are successful, and in many cases the thief is never caught.

One payday loan store robbery in California turned into a high-speed chase. The police showed up as the robber was leaving because an employee tripped a silent alarm located in the store. No one was armed, and the police caught the criminal.

Safety first

It is extremely important for payday lenders to equip their stores with surveillance cameras and alarms systems. For employee’s safety, there should always be more than one person working in the store.

Criminals target payday lenders because of their reputation of lots of cash and little security. It’s time for payday loans stores to take matters into their own hands by protecting their stores and preparing for the worst.

Police say an EZ Payday Loan location in Kansas City has been robbed twice within the last week.

The most recent robbery was Saturday, when the suspect used a semi-automatic black handgun to hold up the store.

Suspect description

Employees of EZ Payday loan report that a man fitting the same description robbed the store Saturday as well as earlier that week.

Witnesses say the man who stole about $2,000 from the business Saturday was 5 feet 8, wearing a long-sleeved blue button-up shirt and blue jeans. The man was black and wearing a yellow bandanna. The amount of cash taken earlier in the week is undisclosed.

More payday loan store robberies

While one man was plotting to rob two stores in Kansas, two men were robbing one store in South Carolina on Thursday.

The two men brandished a handgun and demanded money from a clerk. The two men fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Same story, different ending

Also Thursday, a robber entered a PayDay Loan store in Lake Forest in Orange County, California. The robber showed a gun and demanded money. At this point this story sounds like every other payday loan story, except the one where a couple brought their baby along. However, from here this story out of California heads in quite the different direction.

The store had a silent alarm system, and it had been tripped. The police arrived just as the robber was leaving, and rather than surrender to the inevitable, he decided to involve an innocent bystander.

The chase

The armed robber grabbed a 61-year-old male customer, forced him into his SUV at gunpoint and sped off with the man and the cash.

Police followed, and the robber proceeded to lead the police on a high-speed chase that at times reached speeds of 120 mph. Schools were put on lockdown, as police and suspects sped from on the freeway and around Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel.

Under arrest

Of course, the chase had to end some time. When it did, the police freed the unharmed hostage and arrested the suspect. They recovered the cash, they took the gun and they continued with the business of keeping Orange County safe.

The moral of this story is that payday loan stores and any other frequently targeted establishment should definitely invest in one of those silent alarm systems. Payday loan stores often get targeted by robbers because they keep a large amount of cash on hand. Anything you can do to get police officers on the scene before the robber is off the scene will help deter future criminals from endangering employees and customers again.

Surveillance cameras can help keep businesses safe.

It seems that payday loan stores still haven’t coughed up the money to invest in equipment such as surveillance cameras and other security devices.

According to a local NBC affiliate, the same man attempted to rob two payday loan stores over the weekend in Wichita, Kansas. It appears from news reports that there was one attempted robbery followed by a successful robbery on Sunday.

Strange things afoot

In the first incident, according to KSN News 3, the suspect entered an E Z Payday Advance store at 3570 N. Woodlawn. An employee of E Z Payday Advance was in the parking lot, and the employee notified the police.

If there were no employees inside the E Z Payday Advance store, how did the suspect enter the building? I should think that the doors would be locked if there was no one inside. How the suspect was able to enter the building at 3570 N. Woodlawn remains unclear.

The one that got away

Unfortunately, the news report out of Wichita doesn’t report what time these robberies took place, only that they were about an hour apart. On Sunday, about an hour after the attempted robbery at the E Z Payday Advance store, a man fitting the same description entered a different E Z Payday Advance location at 2548 S. Seneca.

This time, however, the suspect brandished a gun and made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Suspect description

Police are still seeking the man who they believe was involved in both incidents. He is described as 35 to 40 years old and about 5-foot-7.

Police say he was wearing a blue shirt and a red bandanna. They also said he was driving a dark blue or dark green Saturn.

Robberies not as common lately

It’s been pretty quiet on the payday loan store robbery front lately. For a while there, I was reporting on new payday loan store robberies once or twice per month.

However, the last payday loan store robbery I received a report about was in mid-April in Indiana. The state of Indiana appears to be a pretty popular state for payday loan store robberies. This year so far I have received five reports of payday loan store robberies in Indiana, two of which happened on the same day in January.

A quiet month

After getting reports of payday loan store robberies throughout the months of February, March and April, yesterday’s incidents were the first I’ve heard of in several weeks.

There was a string of payday loan store robberies in Spokane, Wash., in late January and early February. A store in Tennessee was also robbed in February.

In March, payday loan stores in Texas, Illinois, California and Virginia reported robberies. In April, the store in Indiana reported the robbery along with a store in Virginia.

Keep employees safe

As I’ve advocated before when reporting on robberies at payday loans stores, businesses that keep a lot of cash on hand much be very careful to protect their employees.

Payday loan businesses should have security cameras installed, and, most importantly, for employees’ safety, there should always be more than one person working in the store.

Take a look at a real, live predator.

A study from George Washington University shows that most payday cash advance loans borrowers “use the credit intelligently.”

In fact, only a tiny fraction of payday loan users said they had trouble getting out of debt because of payday cash advance loans.

A stark contrast

Opponents of payday loans like to throw around the word “predatory” when talking about payday loans. However, people who actually use payday loans don’t seem to feel preyed upon.

“Only about 3 percent of payday loan customers mentioned difficulty of getting out of debt as a reason for being dissatisfied or only partially satisfied with their most recent new payday loan,” the survey says.

Many legislators out there, probably a lot more than 3 percent, are clamoring for “protecting the consumer” and regulating payday loans. Seems to me they are trying to fix something that isn’t broken.

Speaking out in Kansas

One disgruntled consumer wrote a letter to the editor of a Kansas newspaper, saying that payday loans help households, not hurt them.

“Let’s give Kansans a variety of credit options and allow them to choose which are best for them and their families,” wrote Tom Linafelt of Overland Park wrote.

Run out of New Hampshire

New Hampshire previously passed legislation that caps interest rates on payday loans. Companies warned that the regulations would put them out of business, and now it has.

Advance America, a payday loan company with stores across the country, is shutting down all 24 of its New Hampshire locations. Too bad people in New Hampshire now have one fewer place to turn during difficult financial times.

Questioning reality

It seems legislators who want to regulate payday loans have a skewed version of reality. I would be more than willing to bet that none of them has ever taken out a payday loan. Instead of thinking about the situation from a practical standpoint, they are simply looking at numbers and drawing conclusions.

Unfortunately, their lobbying and publicity stunts mean that access to payday cash advance loans is more scarce in a time when many people need them most.

Jeopardy answer: What has Jerry Harper thrown up?

Jerry Harper, a Lawrence Journal-World reader from Lawrence, Kansas writes in a Letter to the Editor that he’s fed up with cash advance lenders. Then he begins to parrot up the crackers that he’s no doubt been force fed by either a media outlet with a sensationalist ax to grind or direct from the Center For Responsible Lending. It’s wrong and we’ve heard it all before. A repeated lie will only become the truth when people stop caring.

The framework for Mr. Harper’s diatribe is discussion of a previous Letter to the Editor from Robert Baker, who Harper feels “was far too modest in describing Housing and Credit Counseling Inc.’s (HCCI) help for the financially distressed; and, far too polite in characterizing the payday loan industry.”

What’s got him twisted?

Imaginary interest rates. How original, Mr. Harper. After making unfounded, incorrect statements about sending consumers into bankruptcy, Harper parrots the “loan shark rates” of 391 percent to 441 percent annually. He even points out that the “Congressional Research Service” says this is so. Great, but payday loans aren’t annual loans. I guess “Congressional Research Service” studied apples when everybody is talking oranges. After this gaff, Mr. Harper calls for the 36 percent APR cap that would lead us all into the promised land… of increased joblessness. Bad idea.

I could go on, but Mr. Harper doesn’t have much use for facts. Thus, I have no further use for Mr. Harper’s letter about cash advance character assassination.

Related articles

• Shapps Exposes Loan Sharks Who Charge 10,000% Interest (iaindale.blogspot.com)
• Pridemore Proposes to Protect Proletariat from Predators (democracyforvancouver.org)
• Canadian Payday Loan Association Believes Half of Ontario Lenders Will Have to Tighten Belts Under Proposed Rate Cap (newswire.ca)

Two people accused of robbing multiple payday loan stores and pharmacies in Spokane, Wash., are now in police custody.  Zachary Tyler Allen, 19, and Kimberly Ann Norman, 20, were arrested yesterday after a month long crime spree.

Police believe the two are responsible for two robberies at the same pharmacy Jan. 8 and Jan. 11. The two are also accused in several payday loan store robberies in Spokane. The most recent robbery was another pharmacy that was hit Feb. 5.

Details on payday loan store robberies

The first Spokane payday loan store robbery took place Jan. 14, when the robber held up a Check and Go store. Jan. 20 a Check into Cash location was robbed. The same Check into Cash location was robbed yet again Jan. 29 within hours of another robbery at another Check into Cash store. After the Check into Cash stores beefed up security, employees and police believe the same man attempted another robbery at the same store he had already robbed twice.

In each robbery, one suspect was identified. The man in each case was a white man with a gun wearing a black ski mask, about 5′6″. Details on how the female suspect was involved in the robberies have not been released.

Nationwide robberies

Police in Wichita, Kan., are still seeking the man who robbed an EZ Pay payday loan store last week. The suspect is described as a black male in his early 20s, 5′10″, about 130 pounds.

One suspect has been arrested in a string of payday loan store robberies in Indianapolis, Ind. Police are still seeking a second suspect, who they identify as Eric Edwards, 23. People with tips can call 317-262-TIPS.

Feb. 3 a payday loan store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was robbed. Police are seeking a man and a woman. The man is described as a 5′10″ black man in his 20s with a mustache. A description of the woman hasn’t been released. Anyone with information is encouraged to call 1-800-CR-CRIME.

Extra security helps

The Check into Cash location in Spokane was able to thwart an attempted robbery by increasing security measures. The stores began keeping their doors locked and requiring customers to show ID before entering the store. One night a man wearing a black ski mask attempted to enter the building, but he ran away after he realized the building was locked.

Other payday loan store should consider this policy before it’s too late and they get robbed, too. Another important security measure is video surveillance cameras. Video surveillance is often very helpful in identifying suspects. Also, posted signs informing people that there are cameras on the premises can deter criminals, as can the appearance of the cameras themselves.

Be on the lookout

No matter where your payday loan store is, business owners, employees and customers need to be prepared in case their store is targeted. Payday loan stores must keep large amounts of cash on hand, which makes them frequent targets for thieves. At the very least, employees at a payday loan store or any type of business that keeps a lot of cash should never be left alone.

McCray-Miller says she plans to introduce the bill after the Legislature convenes Jan. 12.

Necessity

The recession has wreaked all kinds of havoc on the everyday lives of Americans. However, it’s also causing people like McCray-Miller to assess the causes and come up with solutions for preventing a repeat performance.

McCray-Miller says, based on Americans’ increasing debt, education is needed for individuals to avoid another financial crisis. She argues that children learn by example, and they have watched their parents (and their government) accrue debt all their lives. Her aim is to break the cycle.

While a payday loan may be a welcome relief for someone in a bind, it’s certainly ideal if people can prevent financial emergencies when possible.

If it ain’t broke … oh wait, it’s broke

I think we are well past the point that people can argue there’s not a problem. Yes, we can blame mortgage lenders and creditors for causing this recession. But while we can’t directly control what investments banks and government entities do with their money, we can control what we do with our money.

Some factors that went into causing this recession couldn’t be prevented. However, educating children about the dangers of accruing bad debt is a step in the right direction toward a generation of individuals who are more capable of financial freedom.

Lesson plans

A 2003 law in Kansas already requires financial literacy to be included in Board of Education guidelines for lesson plans. Apparently this law isn’t clear enough, because some schools still don’t teach the topic. McCray-Miller’s hope is that her law, if enacted, will require that students be financially literate in order to graduate.

So what should be included in personal finance education? Well, I have a few ideas. First, if children learn the difference between good debt and bad debt at a young age, they are more likely to avoid bad debt. Also, students should know how to assess whether the terms of a loan are realistic. With this kind of education individuals will learn how to manage their finances in a smart way and avoid risky deals, such as sub-prime mortgages.

Impressionable age

Some may argue that Kindergarteners are too young to understand personal finance. I believe if the subject is broken down into its simplest, most rudimentary concepts and then built upon year by year it will be successful. It’s like learning math. First, you teach counting, then addition, then multiplication and so on.

So first teacher would educate students on what debt and credit are and then go from there. If students can understand the difference between negative and positive numbers, they should be able to understand debt. After they understand the concept of debt, teach what kinds of debt are dangerous. If children learn this at a young age they are more likely to believe the concepts are true and avoid financial hardship in the future.

Hope for the future

Emergencies do come up, and with so many people teetering on the poverty line, there will likely always be the need for an occasional payday loan. However, starting financial education at a young age will help the next generation to be smart about their money, even in tough times.