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Bellingham/Reports/March 17, 2026

What Happened in Bellingham on Monday, March 16th, 2026

Yesterday in Bellingham, police responded to 27 incidents, down 39% from 44 the day before. 3 violent crimes were reported, and officers made 5 arrests.

The most common incident type was Administrative, accounting for 10 of 27 reports (37% of total). The most active neighborhood was Downtown with 12 incidents.

Overall activity was 17% below the 30-day average of 33 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 10 incidents (37% of total), followed by Disorder with 9 and Assault & Violence with 3.

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

Trending: Fraud & Financial is up 100% over the past 7 days (5 incidents this week vs 0 the prior week).

Incident Category Breakdown

What's in “Administrative”?
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE4
WARRANT ARREST2
TRESPASS AUTHORIZATION LETTER1
INFORMATION REPORT1
SERVICE OF PAPERS1
PUBLIC TALKS1
Total Incidents27 39%
Arrests5 64%
Violent3 25%
Non-Violent24 40%

Violent Crime

3 violent crimes were reported in Bellingham yesterday, accounting for 11% of all incidents. This is down 25% from the prior day.

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

ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
02:02·Meridian·4100 Block of Deemer Rd
ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
21:58·Puget·1200 Block of Whatcom St
ASSAULT - FelonyViolent
22:25·Cornwall Park·2900 Block of Squalicum Pkwy

Arrests

Bellingham police made 5 arrests yesterday, involving 5 individuals. 2 arrests were related to violent incidents.

Arrests accounted for 19% of all incidents. Of the 5 arrests, 2 were Administrative, 2 were Assault & Violence, and 1 was Drugs & Alcohol. This is down 64% from the 14 arrests the prior day.

WARRANT ARREST
00:23·Administrative·Meridian
ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
02:02·Assault & Violence·Meridian
DRUG - NARCOTICS VIOLATIONS
12:10·Drugs & Alcohol·Downtown
WARRANT ARREST
15:09·Administrative·Downtown
ASSAULT - MisdemeanorViolent
21:58·Assault & Violence·Puget

Neighborhood Activity

Yesterday, incidents were reported across 11 neighborhoods in Bellingham. Downtown had the highest activity with 12 incidents, followed by Puget with 3 and Meridian with 2.

Downtown accounted for 44% of all incidents — a quarter or more of the city's activity in a single neighborhood.

Downtown12
Puget3
Meridian2
Cornwall Park2
Lettered Streets2
Edgemoor1
Roosevelt1
Sunnyland1

2 specific locations have 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 6 AM – 7 AM 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 10, afternoon (12–6 PM) had 7, and evening (6 PM–12 AM) had 6. Morning was the busiest period overall.

Mondays in Bellingham typically average 34 incidents. Yesterday's total of 27 is 7 below that 8-week average (19% lower).

Key Patterns

Fraud & Financial Up 100% This Week

Fraud & Financial incidents have risen sharply: 5 in the past 7 days compared to 0 the prior 7 days — a 100% increase. Today alone saw 1 fraud & financial incident.

Full Incident Log

This log contains all 27 incidents reported to the Bellingham Police Department on Monday, March 16th, 2026. Published Tuesday, March 17th, 2026.

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