Eagle police highlight spike in fraud investigations, urge caution and reporting

During the Dec. 10 Eagle City Council meeting, Police Chief Travis Ruby presented the department’s fraud‑prevention work and introduced Detective Kirkpatrick, a certified economic crime and cybercrime investigator assigned to fraud cases. Chief Ruby and Detective Kirkpatrick described the detective’s training, multiagency work and community outreach, and urged residents not to comply with high‑pressure scams that demand payment by gift card or crypto and to verify any purported warrants directly with the sheriff’s office.

Detective Kirkpatrick discussed 2024 case work in Eagle: he took or handled initial intake on dozens of fraud matters, the department received 119 calls for service in Eagle in 2024, and he investigated 65 detailed reports that the chief said included about $4 million in cryptocurrency losses. The department runs public fraud‑prevention classes and has offered to partner with senior‑center staff for targeted outreach because older residents are frequent targets.

Council thanked Detective Kirkpatrick for the work. Chief Ruby noted operational changes that increased law‑enforcement response to medical calls (a “code blue” response change) may have affected code‑3 call volumes earlier in the fall, and described continuing traffic and parking work tied to new signalization at State and Second.

What’s next: Chief Ruby said staff will continue public education and encouraged citizens to come to the department to file reports; Detective Kirkpatrick plans continuing community training offerings in early 2025.