{{short description|Municipal police force in the United States}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox law enforcement agency | agencyname = City of Bellingham Police Department | commonname = Bellingham Police · Bellingham PD | abbreviation = BPD | patch = | patchcaption = Patch of the BPD | logo = | logocaption = Seal of the Bellingham Police Department | badge = | badgecaption = BPD officer badge | flag = Flag of Bellingham, Washington.svg | flagcaption = Municipal Flag | motto = ''Committed to Community''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=154315360222801&set=a.154315343556136|title=Facebook|website=www.facebook.com}}</ref> | formedyear = {{start date and age|1904}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stark |first=John |date=March 15, 2012 |title=Milestones: From clubs to laptops, police work has changed |url=https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article22196559.html |access-date=23 May 2024 |website=bellinghamherald.com}}</ref> | sworntype = Police officer | sworn = | unsworntype = Civilian employees, Community Service Officers | unsworn = | budget = $34.7 million (2021)<ref>https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article246296735.html</ref> | country = United States | countryabbr = U.S. | divtype = U.S. state{{!}}State | divname = Washington | map = Whatcom County Washington Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Bellingham Highlighted.svg | mapcaption = Bellingham Police jurisdiction | sizearea = {{convert|30.511|sqmi|km2}} | sizepopulation = 91,482<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Bellingham_city,_Washington?g=160XX00US5305280|title=Explore Census Data|website=data.census.gov}}</ref> | legaljuris = City of Bellingham | police = Yes | local = Yes | headquarters = 505 Grand Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225 | employees = | electeetype = | minister1name = | chief1name = Rebecca Mertzig<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cob.org/gov/dept/police/about-police/command-staff|title=Command Staff|website=City of Bellingham}}</ref> | chief1position = Chief of Police | unitname = | framestyle = | titlestyle = | liststyle = | officetype = Precinct | officename = 2 | stationtype = | stations = Bellingham Police Headquarters, and Downtown WTA Precinct | vehicle1type = Police car | vehicles1 = | boat1type = Police boat | boats1 = | aircraft1type = Helicopter | aircraft1 = | animal1type = Horse | animals1 = | animal2type = Dog | animals2 = | website = {{Official website|https://www.cob.org/gov/dept/police}} }}

The '''City of Bellingham Police Department''',<ref name="cob">{{cite web|url=https://www.cob.org/gov/dept/police|website=cob.org|title=Police|accessdate=2019-08-22|archive-date=2019-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622053657/https://www.cob.org/gov/dept/police|url-status=live}}</ref> more commonly known as the '''Bellingham Police Department''' and its initials '''BPD''', is the primary law enforcement and investigation agency within the Bellingham, Washington city limits. Bellingham Police Department is the largest Police Department within Whatcom County, Washington and any other municipal agency north of the Seattle Metropolitan area. Bellingham Police Department is nationally accredited by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.<ref name="cob2">{{cite web|url=https://www.cob.org/news/Pages/features/Police-Department-achieves-accreditation.aspx|website=cob.org|title=Police Department achieves accreditation|accessdate=2019-09-27|archive-date=2019-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827110237/https://www.cob.org/news/Pages/features/Police-Department-achieves-accreditation.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History== On January 12, 1979, Bellingham Police arrested the prolific Hillside Strangler in Bellingham.<ref name="historylink">{{cite web|url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8613|title=After he murders two Bellingham women, police arrest serial killer Kenneth A. Bianchi on January 12, 1979.|website=HistoryLink.org|accessdate=2019-08-22|archive-date=2019-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218050710/https://historylink.org/File/8613|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wwu">{{cite web|url=http://klipsun.wwu.edu/archives/s10a/archives/f09b/story.php?name=violent|website=klipsun.wwu.edu|title=Klipsun|accessdate=2019-08-22|archive-date=2018-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102225616/http://klipsun.wwu.edu/archives/s10a/archives/f09b/story.php?name=violent|url-status=dead}}</ref> Chief Terry Mangan was among the officers on the case: he would later serve as chief of the Spokane Police Department and work for the FBI.<ref name="bellinghamherald">{{cite web|url=https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/crime/article22265787.html|website=Bellingham Herald|title=Bellingham police chief who helped crack Hillside Strangler case dies at 76|accessdate=2019-08-22|archive-date=2022-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604210310/https://account.bellinghamherald.com/paywall/subscriber-only?resume=22265787&intcid=ab_archive|url-status=live|first=Caleb|last=Hutton}}</ref>

In 2002, a Jamaican woman named Una James came to Bellingham to search for her son, Lee Boyd Malvo, who had fallen under the influence of John Allen Muhammad. Bellingham Police alerted immigration authorities to James's presence; she and Malvo were arrested. Malvo and Muhammad would commit the Beltway sniper attacks later that year. An area immigration attorney commented that an immigrant going to the police for help and being arrested instead was common; the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' noted that the arrest may have served to separate James and Malvo and draw Malvo closer to Muhammad.<ref>{{Cite web |last2=OLSEN |first1=CHRIS|last1=MCGANN|first2=LISE |date=2002-11-20 |title=A mother's odyssey ends in tragedy |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/A-mother-s-odyssey-ends-in-tragedy-1101375.php |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=seattlepi.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2008, a Bellingham Police car was stolen when an officer left it running in a parking lot while responding to a call. The car was found a half hour later with two flat tires and missing its radio microphones.<ref>{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |date=2008-12-03 |title=Police car stolen when officer leaves it running |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Police-car-stolen-when-officer-leaves-it-running-1293358.php |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=seattlepi.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2013, Bellingham Police attempted to break up a 500-person riot near Western Washington University after students began throwing beer bottles and other objects at idling police cars. Police used riot gear, pepper balls, smoke and flash grenades. It remains unclear what started the riot.<ref>{{Cite web |last=STEAD |first=JORDAN |date=2013-10-14 |title=Hundreds riot in Bellingham |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/slideshow/Hundreds-riot-in-Bellingham-72087.php |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=seattlepi.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hundreds-of-students-riot-near-bellingham-wa-university-1.2053459|title=Hundreds of students riot near Bellingham, WA university|work=CBC News|date=2013-10-13}}</ref>

In May 2016, Bellingham Police became an acknowledged National accredited law enforcement agency by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC)<ref name="cob2"/>

In May 2017, a Bellingham officer fatally shot a man after he charged the officer with a knife. The man was a suspect in a stabbing the previous year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bellingham Police release video of fatal shooting by officer |url=https://www.khq.com/news/bellingham-police-release-video-of-fatal-shooting-by-officer/article_bf2b99d3-14c6-5d9c-b9c5-8f46e5900884.html |access-date=2022-06-05 |website=KHQ Right Now |date=March 17, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

In 2017, Officer Brooks Laughlin assaulted a man during a traffic stop. Laughlin was arrested twice in 2018 before he resigned from the force in April. In November 2018, he was convicted of three counts of second-degree assault, two counts of felony harassment, two counts of violating a no-contact order, one count of felony stalking and one count of fourth-degree assault. Court papers state that he was the third Bellingham police officer in three years to be arrested for assault.<ref>{{Cite web |work=SeattlePI |author=Lynsi Burton |date=2019-01-09 |title=Lawsuit: Former Bellingham police officer assaulted man without provocation |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Lawsuit-Bellingham-police-officer-assaulted-man-13518680.php |access-date=2022-06-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>

An initiative on the November 2021 ballot banned the Bellingham Police Department, and the rest of the Bellingham city government, from the use of facial recognition and predictive policing technology.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bellingham, WA Bans Government Use of Facial Recognition, Predictive Policing Tech |url=https://epic.org/bellingham-wa-bans-government-use-of-facial-recognition-predictive-policing-tech/ |access-date=2022-06-04 |website=EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Simonite |first=Tom |title=Face Recognition Is Being Banned—but It's Still Everywhere |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/face-recognition-banned-but-everywhere/ |access-date=2022-06-04 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

In 2024, the Bellingham Police Department unveiled a new badge design for future use. The new badge features the Old City Hall, now the Whatcom Museum in Present day. The previous eagle-top design was considered "generic" and could be mistaken for a counterfeit badge. This marks the fourth design change to the badge since the department's establishment in 1904, when it was housed in the Old City Hall.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://mybellinghamnow.com/news/297792-bellingham-police-redesign-badges-for-fourth-time-in-120-years/ | title=Bellingham Police redesign badges for fourth time in 120 years - My Bellingham Now | date=April 2024 }}</ref>

==Responsibilities== The Bellingham Police Departments main responsibility is to deter crime, assist the local community and Provide law enforcement services to all citizens of Bellingham, Washington.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cob.org/gov/dept/police/about-police/patrol#:~:text=Twenty%2Dfour%20hours%20a%20day,their%20service%20to%20our%20community | title=Patrol | work=City of Bellingham }}</ref>

BPD also works alongside the local metropolitan police force Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, as they are located in the heart of downtown Bellingham just a few doors down from the BPD headquarters. BPD officers have direct contact with WCSO staff everyday as they assist each other on traffic stops and other incidents at times, and the Sheriff's Office is responsible for county-wide corrections.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.whatcomcounty.us/2433/The-Office-of-Sheriff|title=The Office of Sheriff &#124; Whatcom County, WA - Official Website|website=www.whatcomcounty.us}}</ref>

The Bellingham Police Department is the main law enforcement agency of the city of Bellingham, except for the campus of the Western Washington University, which is under the responsibility of WWU Police.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://police.wwu.edu/|title=Home &#124; University Police &#124; Western Washington University|website=police.wwu.edu}}</ref>

BPD has a number of specialty units including SWAT, bike patrol, motorcycles, "Walking the Beat", and a variety of detective units.

==Additional Services== The Bellingham Police Department began their Community service officer Program in 2022 after trialing the Downtown Safety Ambassador Program previously.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cob.org/news/2022/downtown-investments-continue-with-launch-of-safety-ambassador-program|title=Downtown investments continue with launch of safety ambassador program|first=Janice|last=Keller|date=March 31, 2022|website=City of Bellingham}}</ref> BPD employs Community Service Officers (CSOs) to provide assistance to both the department and the public. CSOs, who are not sworn Police officers, carry out a range of tasks to aid various departments, with a focus on public safety.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2022/aug/30/four-new-hires-at-bellingham-police-will-ease-workload/|title=Four new hires at Bellingham Police will ease workload |first=Ralph|last=Schwartz|date=August 30, 2022|website=Cascadia Daily News}}</ref>

BPD also runs a youth Cadet Program called the Bellingham Police Explorers. The academy typically occurs at Yakima Training Center.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cob.org/gov/dept/police/join/explorers|title=Explorers Program|website=City of Bellingham}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

== External links == *[https://www.cob.org/gov/dept/police Bellingham Police Department] *[https://www.odmp.org/agency/6497-bellingham-police-department-washington BPD's listing at Officer Down Memorial Page.]

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Category:Municipal police departments of Washington (state)