Bellingham Public Safety This Week

Over the past 7 days (Mar 6 – Mar 12, 2026), Bellingham reported 204 incidents, -28% fewer than the prior week. Administrative was the most common incident type, with 79 reports accounting for 39% of the total.

Of 204 incidents, 11 involved violent crimes (5% of total, 65% lower than the prior week). Officers made 46 arrests involving 43 individuals, and 22% of incidents led to an arrest. Of those, 6 were for violent offenses.

Incidents were reported across 24 Bellingham neighborhoods. Downtown had the highest activity, with 32 incidents (16% of total), followed by Meridian with 26 incidents, and Lettered Streets with 20 incidents.

The top 3 neighborhoods accounted for 38% of all incidents. Birchwood saw the biggest week-over-week increase, with 15 incidents compared to 9 last week (+67%). Meridian saw the largest decline, with 26 incidents compared to 47 last week (-45%). 9 blocks reported more than one incident.

Bellingham reported incidents across 12 categories. Administrative led with 79 incidents, representing 39% of the total, followed by Disorder with 32 incidents, and Behavioral Health with 31 incidents.

Traffic & Vehicles dropped 35%, with 17 incidents compared to 26 last week. Overall, 1 category is trending up, and 10 are trending down.

The busiest day was Thursday with 39 incidents, while the quietest was Tuesday with just 23 — a spread of 16.

Incidents rose for 3 consecutive days, from Tue through Thu. Incidents fell for 3 consecutive days, from Sun through Tue. Weekdays averaged 30 incidents per day, while weekends averaged 27 — 11% higher on weekdays. The biggest single-day swing came on Wednesday, with +9 incidents (+39%) compared to the day before.

Activity peaked between 9pm–10pm with 17 incidents across the last 7 days, while the quietest hour was 5am–6am, with just 0 incidents.

Morning (6am–noon): 53 incidents, or 26% of the total. Afternoon (noon–6pm): 62 incidents, or 30% of the total. Evening (6pm–10pm): 40 incidents, or 20% of the total. Overnight (10pm–6am): 49 incidents, or 24% of the total. Overall, the afternoon period had the most activity, accounting for 30% of all incidents.

Compared to last week, the peak hour shifted from 5pm–6pm to 9pm–10pm. Overnight incidents fell 25%: 49 compared to 65 the prior week. The single busiest day-hour combination was Thursday at 12pm–1pm, with 5 incidents.