Portland Police Department's property crimes unit disbanded

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – Property crimes investigators would investigate break-ins, embezzlement, organized retail crime and burglaries, but now those investigations are being transferred to other officers.

A police department spokesperson says the change is due to a lack of staff and to dedicate more officers to crimes affecting Portland's most vulnerable populations. But the business owners I spoke with say property crimes are still a pressing problem.

The PPB's property crime unit consisted of three detectives and a sergeant. With the dissolution of the unit, these three detectives will now be transferred to the special victim crime and sex crime units. The sergeant will go on patrol.

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Police Chief Bob Day said in a statement:

“Change is always difficult, but it is imperative that we make these important decisions when it comes to deploying our resources to fight the worst crimes. I am grateful to the investigators who will bring their experience and expertise to these important specialist units.”

But local business owners argue that property crimes also require attention

“On weekends, it’s always day and night,” said Yousif Jabbly of Park Ave Market on Tuesday.

Jabbly has owned his market near PSU for 13 years. He says break-ins and thefts have gotten so bad in recent years that he started posting pictures of all the people he caught stealing from his store at the door.

“Nowadays you see all the pictures, they don't even cover their faces, they come in face to face, take things and leave,” Jabbly explained. “We started hanging the pictures and we have a bigger collection. If I wanted to print a book of them, I would need, you know, several, several pages.”

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In fact, earlier this year, someone tried to break into his business with a blowtorch. Even in extreme cases like this, the police are slow to respond to property crimes, according to Jabbly.

“Every report we have made to the police to date has not been answered, we have not received an answer, no one has been caught,” said Jabbly

Now he fears that dismantling the property crime unit will only lead to more problems for business owners.

“I don't see anything they did before this change, you know, I don't see anything that tried to make the city safer,” Jabbly said.

The Portland Police Bureau wants to assure that property crimes will continue to be investigated. Each precinct will have an officer serving as a deputy investigator. Additionally, the transferred property crimes investigators have taken their current cases with them to their new units so those investigations can be completed.

However, there will no longer be a special department for property crimes.

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