PORTLAND, Ore. — Burglaries in Portland are up more than 20%, according to crime statistics from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB).
There were 5,436 burglaries reported in Portland from November 2020 to November 2021. That number rose to 6,492 from November 2021 to November 2022, an increase of 1,056.
Portland Police Sgt. Kevin Allen said the bureau is well aware of the 21% increase. He said they'd like for officers to be able to respond to all of them but staffing shortages and increases in other violent crimes have made that a challenge.
"Anytime we are trying to make a decision on what calls to prioritize, we are always going to come down on calls that involve life safety or person crimes," Allen said. "We do consider those to be the most serious."
Allen said staffing shortages within the police department are being addressed. He said in the past year, PPB has hired 100 new officers and as of now, there are 100 in training.
Ryan Rollins owns the popular eatery PDX Sliders. He has a location on Southeast Division and one in the Sellwood-Mooreland neighborhood. Both restaurants were burglarized a couple of months ago. Some electronics and a safe was stolen during the burglaries which amounts to a $10,000 loss. He said he's not surprised at the increase in burglaries.
"They take anything that's not nailed down," Rollins said. "Anything they can trade, anything of value, anything that's tangible that they can turn into dollars right away."
Allen said burglaries can be hard to stop but he does have some advice.
"Make your business less attractive to a burglar," Allen said. "Those expensive items, maybe put them back, lock them in a closet to where it's not so easy to get them. Security cameras help with investigations."
Rollins said he understands police have a lot to deal with right now. He said he thought about getting security for his business.
"We've toyed with sharing community security between the businesses, have them patrolling the block," Rollins said. "That's something we are looking into as just a deterrent."