PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Property crimes detectives would investigate reports of break ins, embezzlement, organized retail crime, and burglaries. But now, those investigations will go to other officers
A spokesperson with the police department says the change is due to low staffing and they want more officers to work on crimes impacting Portland’s most vulnerable populations. But business owners I talked to say property crimes are still a pressing issue.
The property crime unit at PPB was made up of three detectives and a sergeant. Now that the unit was dissolved, those three detectives will be moved to the special victims and sex crimes units. The sergeant will be moved to patrol.
SEE ALSO:
Chief of police Bob Day said in a statement:
“Change is always difficult, but it is imperative that we make these important decisions when it comes to using our resources to address the most egregious crimes. I appreciate the investigators who will be bringing their experience and expertise to these critical specialty units.”
But local business owners argue property crimes also need attention
“It’s like nonstop daytime nighttime weekend all the time,” Park Ave Market Yousif Jabbly said Tuesday.
Jabbly has owned his market near PSU for 13 years. He says break-ins and thefts have gotten so bad in the last few years that he has started posting pictures of all the people he has caught stealing from his store by the door.
“These days, you see all the pictures, they don’t even cover their face they come in face to face they take stuff and walk out,” Jabbly explained “We started putting the pictures up and we have a larger collection. If I wanted to print a book of them I’d need, like you know, multiple, multiple pages.”
SEE ALSO:
In fact, earlier this year someone tried to break into his store using a blow torch. Even in extreme cases like that Jabbly says the police’s response to property crimes has been slow.
“Any report we did any connection with police up to today we didn’t get no response we didn’t get any answer nobody gets caught,” Jabbly said
Now he worries disbanding the properties crime unit will only lead to more issues for business owners.
“I don’t see anything they did before this change you know I don’t see anything trying to change the city to be safe,” Jabbly said
The Portland Police Bureau wants to reassure the public property crimes will still be investigated. They will have a designated officer at each precinct who will become an acting detective. Plus, the property crimes detectives who were reassigned took their current cases with them to their new units so those investigations can be completed.
But there will no longer be a designated property crimes unit.
Copyright 2024 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.