PORTLAND, Ore. (
KOIN
) — A “massively successful” car theft task force is now “on the chopping block” due to budget cuts, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office says.
Multnomah County DA Nathan Vasquez said the program goes after the most prolific car thieves and often finds drugs, guns and links to other crimes. The DA credits the task force with Portland seeing plummeting car thefts in the past three years. However, he says it is now at risk of shutting down because of budget cuts proposed by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.
“It’s breathtaking to have your car taken away from you. You are away from home, and all of a sudden you see your car passing by, and you say, what?” recalled Noble Napoleon, a car theft victim who was able to get her vehicle returned thanks in part to the task force’s efforts.
At almost 80 years old, Napoleon said she tracked down the man who used a tow truck to steal her car from her in December 2023, forcing him to drop it off back at her home.
“It just hurts. But when you get it back where it belongs, you have relief,” Napoleon said.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Cody Linderholm is the head of the auto theft task force. He said the DA’s office was already investigating Joseph Allen Beard for stealing cars to sell for scraps, partnering with Napoleon to convict him in 2024.
“Without the task force, without the help of law enforcement, but also investigators, this would have just been another case,” Linderholm said.
The joint agency team was initiated in July 2023 and has carried out 50 operations up until now. They utilize a
data-driven approach
in collaboration with law enforcement and local community organizations like
PDX Stolen Cars
The team has convicted 136 individuals for auto theft and has prosecuted hundreds more.
It’s merely the tip of the crime iceberg when dealing with a stolen car; one perpetrator could be behind as many as 3,050 vehicle thefts each month,” stated Titan Crawford, who founded PDX Stolen Cars. “If a program addressing this issue is halted entirely or significantly curtailed, we will likely witness an exponential rise in related criminal activities affecting the entire community.
Following the establishment of the task force, data from the Portland Police Bureau indicates
the number of stolen vehicles has been slashed by more than half
—from 11,115 documented in 2022 down to 5,474 the previous year.
“This is a massively successful program and now is not the time to stop,” said DA Vasquez.
Last month, Multnomah County Board Chair Jessica Vega Pederson unveiled her budget plan for 2026, including nearly $2 million in cuts to the DA’s office amid a $77 million shortfall.
When asked why not continue funding for the task force, Vega Pederson stated:
“The DA’s budget has seen a 57% increase since 2019, including a steady increase in staffing levels. And as a publicly elected official, the DA has decision-making power to reallocate funds within the amount that the Board of County Commissioners allocates to the DA’s office in the budget we will adopt in June.”
DA Vasquez said the Multnomah County Board’s decision not to re-up on one-time funding jeopardizes the task force.
“Yeah, I’m going to scrape and scrap every dollar I can to try to save it. But right now, it is clearly on the chopping block, and that’s – that was a decision to not re-up one-time funding by that budget,” Vasquez said.
KOIN 6 News attempted to reach Chair Vega Pederson for an interview, however, she was not available.
Julia Brim-Edwards, a Multnomah County Commissioner, expressed her support for the efforts made by the police force and the District Attorney’s office aimed at reducing the incidence of vehicle thefts.
“We’ve seen the numbers go down, and I think Portlanders really appreciate that. And so, defunding some specific positions is quite concerning,” Brim-Edwards told KOIN 6 News. “I’m very supportive of the task force continuing and I will be hopefully working with my fellow county commissioners over the next few months to propose changes to the budget to make sure that it’s funded.”
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