QuickTake:

Reasons may include improved technology and other prevention methods, or they could be due in part to under-reporting. Regardless, crimes like theft or burglary still wear down victims and neighborhoods and make people uneasy.

Porch pirates. Missing bikes. Busted car windows with interiors ransacked. Many Eugene and Springfield residents have some experience with theft.

Yet based on data local police departments report to the FBI, Eugene and Springfield have seen recent declines in property crimes as a whole, mirroring national trends. In some categories, the rates have fallen below pre-pandemic levels.

Across the United States, the FBI reported an 8.1% decrease in property crimes in 2024, making it the lowest year on record since 1961, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

Here’s how Eugene and Springfield stacked up in three categories: 

Burglary

Burglary is defined as the unlawful entry into a building or other structure with the intent to commit a felony or theft, according to the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System. Eugene had 853 reported burglaries in 2024, compared to Springfield’s 165.

Larceny theft

Larceny theft includes all incidents that involve the unlawful taking of property from another person. This can include shoplifting, pocket-picking and theft from vehicles. Generally, these are thefts of smaller dollar value.

Theft from vehicles

Theft from vehicles — a subset of larceny theft — is what it sounds like: theft from a motor vehicle, locked or unlocked. Both Eugene and Springfield saw jumps in this category during the pandemic. The numbers have now settled back to pre-pandemic levels. 

The data show charges for crimes that are reported to the FBI. Law enforcement agencies report the charges in their jurisdiction to the FBI database on a rolling basis. Numbers in the database vary from numbers directly reported by Eugene and Springfield police departments, due to differences in crime classifications.

​Ted Coopman, head of the Jefferson Westside Neighborhood Association, described how during the pandemic his neighborhood saw a high number of property crimes.

“I can’t tell you how many bike lights I’ve had taken off my bike, or other stuff like that,” Coopman said. “Opportunistic petty theft, I think, is really what grinds people down.”

Since the pandemic, however, Coopman says there’s been a noticeable drop in incidents. He believes this stems from increased vigilance in the area, and people have fenced off their front yards or stopped leaving valuables in the open.

Stephanie Wiley, criminologist and professor at the University of Oregon, emphasized that even lower-level property crimes can make residents feel uneasy about their safety.

“We might go through extreme measures to lock up our belongings, avoid parking in certain places, avoid keeping things in our cars,” Wiley said. “That fear can have a psychological impact, regardless of what the levels (of crime) are actually at, people will change their behavior based on what they think is happening to protect themselves.”

Coopman has seen this sense of anxiety firsthand, slowly chipping away at residents’ feelings of safety.

“Everyone’s got an anecdote about having things stolen from their yard or their backyard,” Coopman said. “It’s stuff like this that is really socially debilitating after a while, you know, and then people get fed up. And people will move, they’ll just leave, they’ll go someplace else.”

Police response

Springfield Police Deputy Chief George Crolly says the decline in property crimes is consistent with what his department has seen over the last decade. The department chalks up the trend to several factors, ranging from advances in home and vehicle security to the department’s work with local communities on crime prevention practices.

“The increase in surveillance systems, vehicle anti-theft technology and online commerce has reduced opportunities for traditional theft,” Crolly said. “Our officers have also emphasized community engagement and property crime prevention, particularly around retail areas and residential neighborhoods.”

Eugene Police Department spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin said the drop could be a result of underreporting. Anecdotally, the department believes victims of theft from cars, for example, can feel it isn’t worth their time to file a report if little of value was taken.