This holiday season, beginning the week of Black Friday, Eugene Police will be doubling down on shoplifting, the department said Monday.
According to Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner: “Between working with loss prevention at local stores, outreach through EPD’s Community Engagement Team with prevention efforts and security tips, frequent patrol checks, and strategic posting of our Guardian Trailers nearby high traffic areas, we will be mounting a strong defense against this type of crime. Our local businesses and their employees have endured enough hardship and heartache throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to have individuals or highly coordinated group of individuals from out of town hit them again in the pocketbook.”
In the past, shoplifting frequency increases during the holidays, the dept. said, and there have been incidences of shoplifting teams from outside the local area, who are highly coordinated in their approach to theft.