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Bellingham/Reports/January 12, 2026

What Happened in Bellingham on Sunday, January 11th, 2026

Yesterday in Bellingham, police responded to 24 incidents, down 4% from 25 the day before. 2 violent crimes were reported, and officers made 3 arrests.

The most common incident type was Behavioral Health, accounting for 6 of 24 reports (25% of total). The most active neighborhood was Downtown with 5 incidents.

Overall activity was 20% below the 30-day average of 30 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. Behavioral Health led with 6 incidents (25% of total), followed by Administrative with 5 and Theft & Burglary with 4.

Behavioral Health and Administrative were virtually tied, separated by just 1 incident.

Trending: Assault & Violence is up 125% over the past 7 days (9 incidents this week vs 4 the prior week).

Incident Category Breakdown

What's In “Administrative”
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE3
CIVIL CASE1
INFORMATION REPORT1
Total Incidents24 4%
Arrests3 57%
Violent2 33%
Non-Violent22 0%

Violent Crime

2 violent crimes were reported in Bellingham yesterday, accounting for 8% of all incidents. This is down 33% from the prior day.

The most common violent offense was FIGHT with 1 of 2 incidents, followed by RAPE with 1. Of 2 violent incidents, 0 resulted in an arrest — a 0% arrest rate.

FIGHTViolent
02:27·Downtown·200 Block of E Holly St
RAPEViolent
23:00·Cornwall Park·2700 Block of N Park Dr

Arrests

Bellingham police made 3 arrests yesterday, involving 3 individuals.

Arrests accounted for 13% of all incidents. Of the 3 arrests, 2 were Traffic & Vehicles, 1 was Harassment & Threats. This is down 57% from the 7 arrests the prior day.

TRAFFIC STOP (Violation)
00:56·Traffic & Vehicles·York
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
01:12·Traffic & Vehicles·Sehome
VIOLATION OF A COURT ORDER
15:41·Harassment & Threats·Sehome

Neighborhood Activity

Yesterday, incidents were reported across 13 neighborhoods in Bellingham. Downtown had the highest activity with 5 incidents, followed by Sehome with 4 and York with 2.

Downtown5
Sehome4
York2
Puget2
Cordata2
Meridian2
Barkley1
Birchwood1

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 3 PM – 4 PM with 3 incidents during that hour. The quietest period was 3am with no incidents reported.

Overnight (12–6 AM) saw 4 incidents, morning (6 AM–12 PM) had 4, afternoon (12–6 PM) had 9, and evening (6 PM–12 AM) had 7. Afternoon was the busiest period overall.

Sundays in Bellingham typically average 33 incidents. Yesterday's total of 24 is 9 below that 8-week average (27% lower).

Key Patterns

This Week Is Pacing Higher Than Last

Through Sunday (7 days), this week has recorded 205 incidents — 17% more than the 176 reported at the same point last week. If the pace holds, the week could finish well above last week’s total.

Assault & Violence Up 125% This Week

Assault & Violence incidents have risen sharply: 9 in the past 7 days compared to 4 the prior 7 days — a 125% increase.

Unusually Quiet for a Sunday

24 incidents is 27% below the 8-week Sunday average of 33. That's 9 fewer incidents than expected. This marks 2 consecutive days below the rolling average.

Full Incident Log

This log contains all 24 incidents reported to the Bellingham Police Department on Sunday, January 11th, 2026. Published Monday, January 12th, 2026.

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