Whatcom’s overall crime numbers were down. Here’s where violent crime reports were up

Though Whatcom County saw an overall decrease in the number of reported crimes in 2021, violent crimes countywide increased by more than a third last year.

Whatcom County’s public eight law enforcement agencies received a combined total of 13,970 crime reports in 2021, according to annual National Incident-Based Reporting System crime data released Wednesday, July 20, by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. That number was down 3.4% from the 14,465 reported crimes in 2020, mirroring drops the association saw across the state.

The report showed the biggest reasons for the drop were large decreases in the number of drug arrests and fraud incidents in 2021. Statewide, drug offenses were down 60.9% from 2020 due to the State Supreme Court’s Blake Decision, which changed charging guidelines for personal drug possession in 2021. Likewise, identity theft was down 78.8% statewide due to 2020’s spike in pandemic-related fraud claims.

Factoring out drug offenses and fraud, Whatcom County’s number of reported crimes increased by 4.9%, The Bellingham Herald found. The numbers are for combined totals reported by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and seven city police departments within the county. Information from tribal police was not available to be included.

A big part of that increase, The Herald found, was in violent offenses.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines violent crime as four offenses: murder/non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Using that definition, Whatcom County had a total of 617 violent crimes reported in 2021, which was an increase of 33.8% from the 461 reported in 2020, The Herald found, and the most the county has seen in the past five years.

The Bellingham Police Department saw the largest increase of violent crimes, The Herald found, as those offenses jumped 59.2% in 2021 to 414. The Ferndale and Lynden police departments also saw large violent crime increases at 41.2% and 22.2%, respectively, but the sheriff’s office reported an 11.6% decrease in reported violent crimes.

Countywide, murder and manslaughter numbers remained steady with seven combined (six murders, one manslaughter) in 2021, and the number of reports of rape dropped 7.2% to 64, The Herald found.

But assault countywide was up, with 404 aggravated assaults (44.3% increase) and 939 simple assaults (11.5% increase) in 2021, The Herald found.

Larceny offenses also were up countywide to 5,641 reports in 2021 (9.7% increase), The Herald found, but burglaries were down 8.5% to 1,085 reports.

Motor vehicle theft numbers in the county were down 7.9% (560 total reports). The numbers for 2022 likely will increase with a spike during the first half of the year.

A total of 16 hate crimes were reported in Whatcom County in 2021, which was down 10 from the countywide total in 2020.

Crime numbers from the Lummi Nation Police Department and Nooksack Tribal Police were not included in the countywide numbers, because neither department’s crime reports were included in the Washington association report in 2020 and Nooksack’s were not in the 2021 report.

The number of commissioned law enforcement officers in Whatcom County as of Oct. 31, 2021, including staff numbers from Lummi and Nooksack, dropped by four to 304, The Herald found. Based on Washington State Office of Financial Management population estimates, there were 1.31 commissioned law enforcement officers in Whatcom County for every 1,000 residents — down from 1.36 in 2020, The Herald found.

That also mirrors numbers seen statewide, the association reported, as Washington had a net loss of 495 commissioned officers in 2021 and now averages 1.38 per 1,000 residents — the lowest rate in the nation and the lowest rate the organization has recorded since data collection began in 1980. Citing FBI data, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs reported the national average is 2.33.

Here is what the Washington association report showed for individual Whatcom County law enforcement organizations:

▪ Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office: 2,633 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 19.8% from 2020. That included 137 violent crimes, down 11.6% from 2020. Destruction of property (374 reports, up 4.5%) and statutory rape (four reports, up from one) were the only areas that saw increases in 2021, while larceny/theft (742 reports, down 6.7%), burglary (306 reports, down 13.8%) and motor vehicle theft (151 reports, down 20.5%) were on the decline. The department’s number of commissioned officers remained at 86 in 2021, or approximately 0.92 per 1,000 residents in unincorporated Whatcom County.

▪ Bellingham Police Department: 9,405 total crimes were reported in 2021, up 9.1% from 2020. That included 414 violent crimes, up 59.2% from 2020. Aggravated assault (248 reports, up 74.6%), robbery (134 reports, up 61.4%) and destruction of property (1,688 reports, up 14.5%) increased in 2021, while stolen property offenses (133 reports, down 16.9%) decreased. The department’s number of commissioned officers decreased by three to 115 in 2021, or approximately 1.22 per 1,000 residents in the city of Bellingham.

▪ Blaine Police Department: 311 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 17.1% from 2020. That included 10 violent crimes, matching 2020’s total. Larceny/theft (84 reports, up 15.1%) was on the rise, while burglary (44 reports, down 20.0%) declined. The department’s number of commissioned officers decreased by three to 11 in 2021, or approximately 1.79 per 1,000 residents in the city of Blaine.

▪ Everson Police Department: 63 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 16.0% from 2020. That included five violent crimes, up from none in 2020. Aggravated assault (four reports, up from none) was on the rise, while larceny/theft (22 reports, down 35.3%) declined. The department’s number of commissioned officers remained at six in 2021, or approximately 1.30 per 1,000 residents in the cities of Everson and Nooksack.

▪ Ferndale Police Department: 817 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 0.1% from 2020. That included 24 violent crimes, up 41.2% from 2020. Simple assault (74 reports, up 39.6%) and destruction of property (163 reports, up 22.6%) were on the rise, while burglary (53 reports, down 31.2%) and larceny/theft (309 reports, down 4.6%) declined. The department’s number of commissioned officers increased by one to 21 in 2021, or approximately 1.31 per 1,000 residents in the city of Ferndale.

▪ Lynden Police Department: 513 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 16.9% from 2020. That included 22 violent crimes, up 22.2% from 2020. Intimidation (40 reports, up 66.7%) and aggravated assault (14 reports, up 133.3%) were on the rise, while destruction of property (55 reports, down 40.2%) and larceny/theft (214 reports, down 4.5%) declined. The department’s number of commissioned officers remained at 17 in 2021, or approximately 1.05 per 1,000 residents in the city of Lynden.

▪ Sumas Police Department: 19 total crimes were reported in 2021, up 18.8% from 2020. That included two violent crimes, up from none in 2020. Simple assault (10 reports, up 42.9%) and larceny/theft (five reports, up 66.7%) were on the rise. The department’s number of commissioned officers remained at six in 2021, or approximately 3.45 per 1,000 residents in the city of Sumas.

▪ Western Washington Police Department: 209 total crimes were reported in 2021, down 68.2% from 2020. That included three violent crimes, up from one in 2020. Larceny/theft (80 reports, up 122.2%) and rape (two reports, up from one) were on the rise, while burglary (four reports, down 55.6%) declined. The department’s number of commissioned officers remained at 13 in 2021, or approximately 0.81 per 1,000 students.

▪ Lummi Nation Police Department: Though no 2020 crime numbers were reported for comparison, a total of 804 crimes were reported to the department in 2021. Of those, 63 were violent crimes, including 53 aggravated assaults. The department’s number of commissioned officers increased by one to 20 in 2021.

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