Thousands of volunteers work together to find and return stolen vehicles in Portland

(NOVEMBER 4, 2022) Many cars are stolen in Portland every year. In fact, more than 10,000 vehicles will be stolen this year alone. Now, a group of volunteers is helping to find the stolen cars -- before they are sold for parts.

The group is called PDX Stolen Cars. It was started in 2021. Titan Crawford is a leader of the group. He says there are some rules for members. For example, volunteers are not trying to be police. Instead, they are trying to build community. Also, volunteers cannot accept rewards. Volunteers should look for stolen cars because they want to help, not because they want money.

The group works together. They share pictures of license plates. They watch for stolen vehicles when they are driving to work. They look online for information.

Portland Police say they cannot do more because they don't have enough officers. But the PDX Stolen Cars group has about 12,000 members. And they are very successful. Crawford says the group finds between 2 and 12 vehicles every day.