Bellingham Crime Rates – 2022 & 2023 Thus Far

Bellingham Defense Attorney, Mount Vernon Criminal Defense Attorney, Skagit County Criminal Defense, Whatcom County Criminal Defense, , , , ,

Free photo: Bellingham Police (9096) - Bellingham, Bellingham Police Car, Bellingham Police Department - Free Download - Jooinn

You’ve likely heard a lot about crime recently. It’s been a major topic of campaign rhetoric and featured in a cacophony of often misleading ads. More Americans than ever now believe that crime is up in their community, according to a recent Gallup poll.

But what do crime statistics reveal for the City of Bellingham, in particular?

Out of curiosity, I researched the City of Bellingham’s crime statistics for both 2022 and 2023. Here’s what the numbers show:

BELLINGHAM CRIME STATISTICS – ALL NEIGHBORHOODS – 2022

Reported Incidents Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Alcohol Offenses 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 5 2 0 0
Assault (Felony) 17 12 21 14 16 9 24 12 18 18 10 9
Assault (Misdemeanor) 42 44 54 48 54 43 57 56 51 56 28 53
Auto Theft 74 62 62 47 39 32 30 40 36 27 32 22
Burglary (Residential) 78 57 89 70 64 49 52 68 59 58 60 51
Crimes Against Person 19 19 18 17 16 22 22 19 11 19 10 11
Crimes Against Property 48 42 46 38 44 47 51 37 39 38 41 27
Domestic Violence 62 67 58 84 58 60 74 76 69 64 73 55
Drug Offenses 9 7 7 15 18 13 35 24 22 20 17 19
DUI 10 17 15 17 14 22 22 19 35 23 20 19
Homicide 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Malicious Mischief 80 86 194 152 139 263 294 415 285 298 311 258
Public Order Maintenance 321 278 345 247 297 351 287 274 262 306 258 316
Robbery 16 16 9 10 12 11 17 8 7 14 5 5
Service Calls 472 365 466 430 512 504 514 500 438 367 456 407
Sex Crime Reports 4 5 10 5 6 5 11 10 6 10 8 11
Theft 318 293 336 296 296 275 268 285 243 242 259 185
Traffic Accidents 53 40 58 55 45 54 39 53 42 79 63 24
Traffic Offenses/Complain 154 158 141 116 114 100 113 89 159 143 121 88
Vehicle Prowls 197 184 226 194 200 105 122 127 87 126 90 62
All Others 196 144 169 119 149 155 184 143 145 175 146 114
Calls – Non-reportable 4247 4051 4631 4348 4930 5281 5496 5267 5017 4838 4003 4194
Totals 6417 5948 6955 6322 7024 7401 7714 7525 7036 6925 6011 5930

 

BELLINGHAM CRIME STATISTICS – ALL NEIGHBORHOODS – 2023

Reported Incidents Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Alcohol Offenses 3 0 1 0 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
Assault (Felony) 5 14 12 10 14 15 16 0 0 0 0 0
Assault (Misdemeanor) 52 35 33 42 53 39 59 0 0 0 0 0
Auto Theft 28 22 24 15 24 28 21 0 0 0 0 0
Burglary (Residential) 55 34 52 58 58 60 32 0 0 0 0 0
Crimes Against Person 16 11 22 18 27 24 20 0 0 0 0 0
Crimes Against Property 41 30 30 27 21 33 21 0 0 0 0 0
Domestic Violence 69 49 61 76 66 74 78 0 0 0 0 0
Drug Offenses 27 32 24 19 29 29 26 0 0 0 0 0
DUI 29 21 33 27 39 30 36 0 0 0 0 0
Homicide 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Malicious Mischief 322 375 365 295 192 106 50 0 0 0 0 0
Public Order Maintenance 314 273 260 328 299 317 256 0 0 0 0 0
Robbery 12 10 10 5 11 9 5 0 0 0 0 0
Service Calls 480 412 462 395 446 513 417 0 0 0 0 0
Sex Crime Reports 6 6 5 5 4 9 4 0 0 0 0 0
Theft 234 219 218 226 251 196 177 0 0 0 0 0
Traffic Accidents 13 10 15 17 8 26 7 0 0 0 0 0
Traffic Offenses/Complain 91 77 93 85 85 66 47 0 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Prowls 57 52 52 59 59 44 27 0 0 0 0 0
All Others 167 143 154 134 146 143 90 0 0 0 0 0
Calls – Non-reportable 4431 3947 4858 4697 5186 4964 4720 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 6452 5772 6786 6538 7023 6728 6110 0 0 0 0 0

The numbers are interesting. Without diving too deeply into sub-categories, it appears that crime is trending down. In 2022, the City of Bellingham had 47,781 reported incidents of crime from January – July. In 2023, the City of Bellingham has 45,409 total reported incidents of crime from January – July.

The take-away? Bellingham, WA is a relatively safe city compared to the national average. According to bestplaces.net, violent crime in Bellingham is 18.8 which is significantly lower than the US average of 22.7. Similarly, property crime rate in Bellingham is 71.5 which is more than twice as low as the US average of 35.4. Therefore, it can be concluded that Bellingham is an overall safer area than most places in the United States.

It’d be interesting to know what criminal charges were reduced, dismissed, acquitted or found guilty.

Please contact my office if you, a friend or family member are charged with a crime. Hiring an effective and competent defense attorney is the first and best step toward justice.