Police suggest facial recognition cameras to discourage bank robbers

Colonel Mai Hoang, deputy director of the city police department, said at a workshop Wednesday that bank robbers usually disguise themselves by wearing masks, glasses, wide hats, and coats.

But they usually case a bank before carrying out the heist, and so banks need to have cameras to record the faces of all visitors, he said.

"Prevention is the key. When [criminals] realize their images have been recorded, they will lose the intention to commit crimes."

Lieutenant General Le Hong Nam, director of the police department, said during the New Year and Lunar New Year period banks are crowded, and criminals could use that as a cover to surveil them, and so they should beef up their security systems.

HCMC has more than 2,000 bank branches.

According to the police, there have been two bank robberies this year.

The robbers were caught in both cases, the money was fully recovered and there were no casualties.

Such incidents affect the operation of the entire bank and the morale of staff and customers, the police point out.