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Bellingham/Reports/December 20, 2025

What Happened in Bellingham on Friday, December 19th, 2025

Yesterday in Bellingham, police responded to 41 incidents, up 21% from 34 the day before. 3 violent crimes were reported, and officers made 9 arrests.

The most common incident type was Administrative, accounting for 13 of 41 reports (32% of total). The most active neighborhood was Barkley with 7 incidents.

Overall activity was 11% below the 30-day average of 46 incidents per day.

Incident activity heatmap by hour and day
Nonviolent
Nonviolent Arrest
Violent
Violent + Arrest

Incident Categories

Yesterday, Bellingham reported incidents across 8 categories. Administrative led with 13 incidents (32% of total), followed by Behavioral Health with 6 and Traffic & Vehicles with 5.

Administrative alone accounted for more incidents than the next 3 categories combined, which totaled 15.

Trending: Fraud & Financial is up 33% over the past 7 days (4 incidents this week vs 3 the prior week).

Incident Category Breakdown

What's In “Administrative”
PROPERTY - FOUND/RECOVERED4
ASSIST OTHER AGENCY3
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE2
CIVIL CASE2
SERVICE OF PAPERS1
DEATH INVESTIGATION1
Total Incidents41 21%
Arrests9 10%
Violent3 0%
Non-Violent38 23%

Violent Crime

3 violent crimes were reported in Bellingham yesterday, accounting for 7% of all incidents. This is unchanged from the prior day.

The most common violent offense was ASSAULT - Misdemeanor with 1 of 3 incidents, followed by COLLISION - HIT & RUN with 1. Of 3 violent incidents, 2 resulted in an arrest — a 67% arrest rate.

ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
11:46·Barkley·1100 Block of Woodstock Way
COLLISION - HIT & RUNViolent
19:35·Puget·200 Block of Ashley Ave
ASSAULT - FelonyViolent
23:32·Lettered Streets·1300 Block of F St

Arrests

Bellingham police made 9 arrests yesterday, involving 9 individuals. 2 arrests were related to violent incidents.

Arrests accounted for 22% of all incidents. Of the 9 arrests, 4 were Traffic & Vehicles, 2 were Theft & Burglary, and 2 were Assault & Violence. This is down 10% from the 10 arrests the prior day.

TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
00:05·Traffic & Vehicles·Meridian
POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY
03:10·Theft & Burglary·Lettered Streets
SHOPLIFTING
10:52·Theft & Burglary·Meridian
OBSTRUCTING A LAW ENF OFFICER
10:59·Harassment & Threats·Samish
ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
11:46·Assault & Violence·Barkley
TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
22:05·Traffic & Vehicles·Downtown
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
22:19·Traffic & Vehicles·Barkley
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
23:16·Traffic & Vehicles·Bellingham (Unclassified)
ASSAULT - FelonyViolent
23:32·Assault & Violence·Lettered Streets

Neighborhood Activity

Yesterday, incidents were reported across 15 neighborhoods in Bellingham. Barkley had the highest activity with 7 incidents, followed by Puget with 5 and Downtown with 5.

Barkley7
Puget5
Downtown5
Roosevelt5
Meridian3
Lettered Streets3
Samish2
Birchwood2

1 specific location has appeared in the top 10 most active blocks for 4 or more of the last 7 days, including 500 Block of Grand Ave (5 of 7 days).

Explore all neighborhoods and their trends in Bellingham Neighborhood Safety. →

Hourly Breakdown

Activity in Bellingham yesterday peaked between 1 PM – 2 PM with 6 incidents during that hour. The quietest period was 2am with no incidents reported.

Overnight (12–6 AM) saw 4 incidents, morning (6 AM–12 PM) had 9, afternoon (12–6 PM) had 12, and evening (6 PM–12 AM) had 16. Evening was the busiest period overall.

Fridays in Bellingham typically average 59 incidents. Yesterday's total of 41 is 18 below that 8-week average (31% lower).

Key Patterns

This Week Is Pacing Lower Than Last

Through Friday (5 days), this week has recorded 198 incidents — 18% fewer than the 242 reported at the same point last week. The current pace suggests this week may finish below last week.

Unusually Quiet for a Friday

41 incidents is 31% below the 8-week Friday average of 59. That's 18 fewer incidents than expected. This marks 4 consecutive days below the rolling average.

4 Days Below Average

Bellingham has reported below-average incident counts for 4 consecutive days. The 30-day average is 46 per day; today's 41 continues the quieter stretch. This week is at 198 incidents compared to 242 at this point last week.

Full Incident Log

This log contains all 41 incidents reported to the Bellingham Police Department on Friday, December 19th, 2025. Published Saturday, December 20th, 2025.

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