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Bellingham/Reports/January 5, 2026

What Happened in Bellingham on Sunday, January 4th, 2026

Yesterday in Bellingham, police responded to 19 incidents, up 12% from 17 the day before. 1 violent crime was reported, and officers made 6 arrests.

The most common incident type was Traffic & Vehicles, accounting for 6 of 19 reports (32% of total). The most active neighborhood was Cordata with 3 incidents.

Overall activity was 44% below the 30-day average of 34 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. Traffic & Vehicles led with 6 incidents (32% of total), followed by Administrative with 5 and Disorder with 2.

Traffic & Vehicles and Administrative were virtually tied, separated by just 1 incident.

Trending: Traffic & Vehicles is up 171% over the past 7 days (19 incidents this week vs 7 the prior week).

Incident Category Breakdown

What's In “Administrative”
WARRANT ARREST2
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE1
DEATH INVESTIGATION1
ASSIST OTHER AGENCY1
Total Incidents19 12%
Arrests6 50%
Violent1 0%
Non-Violent18 13%

Violent Crime

1 violent crime was reported in Bellingham yesterday, accounting for 5% of all incidents. This is unchanged from the prior day.

The most common violent offense was SHOTS FIRED with 1 of 1 incidents. Of 1 violent incidents, 0 resulted in an arrest — a 0% arrest rate.

SHOTS FIREDViolent
00:53·Cordata·900 Block of Pacific Rim Ln

Arrests

Bellingham police made 6 arrests yesterday, involving 5 individuals.

Arrests accounted for 32% of all incidents. Of the 6 arrests, 4 were Traffic & Vehicles, 2 were Administrative. This is up 50% from the 4 arrests the prior day.

TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
01:30·Traffic & Vehicles·Downtown
TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
01:33·Traffic & Vehicles·Roosevelt
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
01:40·Traffic & Vehicles·Birchwood
WARRANT ARREST
02:17·Administrative·Downtown
TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
08:35·Traffic & Vehicles·Meridian
WARRANT ARREST
12:20·Administrative·Columbia

Neighborhood Activity

Yesterday, incidents were reported across 10 neighborhoods in Bellingham. Cordata had the highest activity with 3 incidents, followed by Downtown with 3 and Meridian with 3.

Cordata3
Downtown3
Meridian3
York2
Columbia2
Birchwood2
Samish1
Sehome1

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

Hourly Breakdown

Activity in Bellingham yesterday peaked between 1 AM – 2 AM with 3 incidents during that hour. The quietest period was 4am with no incidents reported.

Overnight (12–6 AM) saw 8 incidents, morning (6 AM–12 PM) had 5, afternoon (12–6 PM) had 5, and evening (6 PM–12 AM) had 1. Overnight was the busiest period overall.

Sundays in Bellingham typically average 37 incidents. Yesterday's total of 19 is 18 below that 8-week average (48% lower).

Key Patterns

Traffic & Vehicles Up 171% This Week

Traffic & Vehicles incidents have risen sharply: 19 in the past 7 days compared to 7 the prior 7 days — a 171% increase. Today alone saw 6 traffic & vehicles incidents.

Unusually Quiet for a Sunday

19 incidents is 48% below the 8-week Sunday average of 37. That's 18 fewer incidents than expected. This marks 2 consecutive days below the rolling average.

Full Incident Log

This log contains all 19 incidents reported to the Bellingham Police Department on Sunday, January 4th, 2026. Published Monday, January 5th, 2026.

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