Skip to content
Bellingham/Reports/March 23, 2026

What Happened in Bellingham on Sunday, March 22nd, 2026

Yesterday in Bellingham, police responded to 31 incidents, up 7% from 29 the day before. 1 violent crime was reported, and officers made 13 arrests.

The most common incident type was Administrative, accounting for 8 of 31 reports (26% of total). The most active neighborhood was Downtown with 10 incidents.

Activity was roughly in line with the 30-day average of 35 incidents per day.

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

Incident Categories

Yesterday, Bellingham reported incidents across 7 categories. Administrative led with 8 incidents (26% of total), followed by Traffic & Vehicles with 7 and Disorder with 5.

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

Trending: Drugs & Alcohol 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
WARRANT ARREST3
ASSIST OTHER AGENCY1
ANIMAL PROBLEM1
Total Incidents31 7%
Arrests13 86%
Violent1 50%
Non-Violent30 11%

Violent Crime

1 violent crime was reported in Bellingham yesterday, accounting for 3% of all incidents. This is down 50% from the prior day.

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

FIGHTViolent
02:06·Downtown·200 Block of E Holly St

Arrests

Bellingham police made 13 arrests yesterday, involving 10 individuals.

Arrests accounted for 42% of all incidents. Of the 13 arrests, 6 were Traffic & Vehicles, 3 were Disorder, and 3 were Administrative. This is up 86% from the 7 arrests the prior day.

TRESPASS
00:46·Disorder·Downtown
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
01:25·Traffic & Vehicles·York
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
01:56·Traffic & Vehicles·York
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
02:12·Traffic & Vehicles·Sehome
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
02:15·Traffic & Vehicles·Downtown
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
02:28·Traffic & Vehicles·Cordata
DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
03:34·Traffic & Vehicles·Downtown
TRESPASS
04:41·Disorder·Downtown
WARRANT ARREST
16:19·Administrative·Happy Valley
SHOPLIFTING
16:48·Theft & Burglary·Barkley
WARRANT ARREST
23:51·Administrative·Downtown
TRESPASS
23:51·Disorder·Downtown
WARRANT ARREST
23:54·Administrative·Meridian

Neighborhood Activity

Yesterday, incidents were reported across 15 neighborhoods in Bellingham. Downtown had the highest activity with 10 incidents, followed by Sehome with 3 and Happy Valley with 3.

Downtown accounted for 32% of all incidents — a quarter or more of the city's activity in a single neighborhood.

Downtown10
Sehome3
Happy Valley3
York2
Barkley2
Meridian2
Puget1
Samish1

2 specific locations have appeared in the top 10 most active blocks for 4 or more of the last 7 days, including 1300 Block of Commercial St (4 of 7 days).

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

Hourly Breakdown

Activity in Bellingham yesterday peaked between 2 AM – 3 AM with 4 incidents during that hour. The quietest period was 5am with no incidents reported.

Overnight (12–6 AM) saw 10 incidents, morning (6 AM–12 PM) had 7, afternoon (12–6 PM) had 10, and evening (6 PM–12 AM) had 4. Overnight was the busiest period overall.

Sundays in Bellingham typically average 33 incidents. Yesterday's total of 31 is 2 below that 8-week average (6% lower).

Key Patterns

Downtown: Most Active for 9 Straight Days

Downtown has been the most active neighborhood for 9 consecutive days. Today it logged 10 incidents (32% of the city total).

Drugs & Alcohol Up 125% This Week

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

Full Incident Log

This log contains all 31 incidents reported to the Bellingham Police Department on Sunday, March 22nd, 2026. Published Monday, March 23rd, 2026.

Get the daily briefing

Free, every morning.