Eugene (KMTR) – A Eugene Police Department program helps property owners who want to keep people off their property who don't belong there. It’s called the Trespass Program.Property owners sign a letter which is kept on file with the department. Officers can then deal with a trespasser without having to contact the owner right away.
Crime Prevention Specialist Kelly Putnam explains, “If you have a Trespass letter, basically, you're giving the police department the authority to act on your behalf and make an arrest or issue a citation without having to contact you at 3:00 in the morning, saying, ‘You have a trespasser in your carport. Do you want to sign a complaint?’ You've effectively already done that by signing the Trespass letter.”
Many downtown Eugene businesses are involved in the Trespass Program, so are many of the apartment complexes and private residences in the west university neighborhood. It serves as a tool for tenants who want to report something, but may not want to get involved. They can simply contact police and let them know that the complex has a Trespass letter on file.
“So they can call and say, ‘I want to be anonymous. I don't even want to give you my name, but we have a Trespass letter here and there's someone in front of my front door.’ And that takes care of it,” Putnam said.
More information on the Trespass Program is available by calling (541) 682-5642.
