NCJ Number
219293
Journal
THE POLICE CHIEF Volume: 74 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 36-38,41
Date Published
May 2007
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the multifaceted approach of the Beaverton (Oregon) Police Department’s Identity Theft and Fraud Prevention Program.
Abstract
With help from a 2003 Federal grant of $250,000, the Beaverton Police Department created their Identity Theft and Fraud Prevention Program, which focuses on three main elements: (1) enhanced investigative resources; (2) community education; and (3) victim assistance. The department created the new Special Enforcement Unit (SEU), which was tasked with investigating street-level identity theft and fraud crimes with a monetary value of less than $5,000, which had previously been overlooked due to a lack of resources. Additionally, the department’s crime analysts assisted the SEU in identifying high-risk businesses, mainly large retailers, so that they could be targeted for prevention education in an effort to enhance their ability to proactively address factors contributing to fraud. The SEU also worked to establish partnerships with local businesses and banks to encourage them to report losses due to fraud. In the 2-year period between 2004 and 2006, the SEU made 494 arrests, recovered $33,170, and prevented the theft of another $701,483. The department has since added two dedicated officers to an interagency task force, the Fraud Identity Theft Enforcement (FITE) team that investigates identity theft and fraud crime with a monetary value of over $5,000. The Beaverton Police Department also created a public education campaign that included the creation of two identity theft and fraud prevention booklets for citizens and for businesses. The department hosts free document shredding events and conducts multiple educational presentations and workshops for the community and for citizens. Victim assistance services were created in 2006 and include personal counseling and credit restoration assistance. The article contains a textbox on how the Federal Bureau of Investigation is partnering with retailers to combat organized retail theft. 1 figure