Portland is tired of losing to the news on car and retail store thefts. The problems have created a task force made up of enforcement agencies. That task force includes the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office,
Oregon State Police, Gresham Police Department. This week, elected and law enforcement officials will release information to their plan this week.
Economics and city perception are big areas of concern aling with quality of life. REI and Nike have each cited shoplifting and other property crimes as factors behind their recent decisions to shutter stores or leave Portland entirely. Walmart cited its Portland stores’ financial performance as the reason for closing its two locations in the city. Leaders are saying that they have spent more than two months working to formulate and finalize their plan they are about to release.
The launch of the new plan will reportedly crack down on property crimes. The local police have released information on stolen cars to the public. It has been aggressive in putting the public on notice about the rise in thefts. The problems are not relegated to residential areas. Commercial ares are also the issue.
The plan to be unveil is reportedly the creation of two new task forces focused on car and retail thefts. The business community has been up in arms in Portland and want action. Portland is still on track to see more than 10,000 car thefts this year according to an analysis posted on Oregonian/OregonLive.
There has been an uptick in stolen cars and store merchandise that has created the current urgency. There has been fingerpointing with some pointing to local law enforcement’s ongoing inability to curb endemic low-level crimes. Some will look to this period as a time where well-known businesses left or were closed due to these issues.
