Police Department

Downtown Precinct Requesting the Public's Assistance

Sgt. Terry Preuninger, PIO

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 3:23 p.m.

The Spokane Police Department’s downtown precinct would like the public’s assistance in reducing the volume of commercial burglaries we are experiencing in the downtown core.

Recently there has been a marked increase in commercial burglaries in the downtown area, and there have been some commonalities in the tactics used by the burglars. Business owners along with employees can take a few simple steps to combat this issue.

The burglars have been targeting businesses with common access to both public and private areas. We ask that employees contact people in areas that are traditionally off limits to the public. Employees should remain polite and not take any action that would endanger them or others. However they should not assume that someone in a restricted or out of the way area automatically has a legitimate reason to be there. Employees should take time to discover if they have a lawful purpose to be in that space by asking questions about why they are there, what they are doing etc.

We would also like business owners and managers to limit access to these areas when possible. They are also encouraged to clearly mark and identify “employee only” areas. This will reduce the number of inadvertent entrances into those spaces by people not knowing where they should and should not go, and to make it easier to identify people in those spaces for nefarious purposes.

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