Crime was up nearly 20% across Whatcom County in 2020, but what drove that increase?
Large increases in reported fraud and vehicle thefts drove a nearly 20% increase in the number of crimes reported in Whatcom County in 2020, analysis of recently released state data shows.
While Whatcom County’s number of reported vehicle thefts in 2020 (608 thefts) more than doubled from the 275 reported in 2019, the number of reported fraud offenses increased by a whopping 348.5% from 359 reports in 2019 to 1,610 last year, according to The Bellingham Herald’s analysis of data released Wednesday, July 7, in the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chief’s Crime in Washington 2020 report.
The association compiles the data annually from data provided by 233 state, county, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies across the state, according to a release on the report. In conjunction with the FBI, the data will be released on a national level later this year to help give residents, elected officials and law enforcement agencies data about crime in their communities.
“The National Incident Based Crime reporting system collects data on a broad range of offenses that range from embezzlement to murder,” Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo told The Herald in a statement. “For some categories of crime, the volume is so small that an increase of one offense reflects a percentage change of 100%.
“While the frequency of crime has remained relatively static over the past five years, I remain concerned that moving forward, that legislation enacted in 2021 will significantly impair officers’ ability to appropriately investigate crime and apprehend those who victimize others.
“I also remain concerned about the trend to release some of the people who commit serious crimes without substantial conditions. We see many of these offenders going on to commit new offenses.”
Statewide, the report showed that murders were up almost 47% and manslaughter nearly doubled from 2019, according to the release.
Whatcom County, meanwhile saw decreases in both those crimes. The county’s number of murders dropped from nine in 2019 to seven in 2020, and while no manslaughter was reported in Whatcom last year, there was one the year before. Six of the seven murders last year were handled by the sheriff’s office (up from four in 2019), while Bellingham handled only one (down from five in 2019).
Whatcom’s saw an 8.8% decrease in the number of crimes against persons, which includes crimes such as sexual assault, assault, intimidation and kidnapping in addition to murder and manslaughter.
Whatcom’s crimes against society (animal cruelty, drug violations, pornography, prostitution and weapon laws violations, etc.) also were down 21.8%, analysis showed.
Whatcom saw growth last year in crimes against property, where the number of reported crimes increased 39.2% over 2019.
Whatcom’s 348.5% increase in reported fraud was a big part of that increase and was well ahead of the 131.3% increase the state saw, according to the report.
“Biggest increase by far was in the fraud category,” Lynden Police Department Chief Steve Taylor told The Herald in an email. “The overwhelming majority of those cases were related to the huge volume of incidents of false unemployment claims filed throughout the state.”
Individually, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office handled 408 fraud reports (up 284.9%) and the Bellingham Police Department had 540 (up 147.7%). Even the Western Washington University Police Department had 506 fraud reports, which was up 7,128.6% from the seven it had in 2019, while the Ferndale Police Department had 42 and the Lynden Police Department 95.
Bellingham also had its number of vehicle thefts increase from 144 in 2019 to 371 last year (157.6% growth), while the sheriff’s office handled 191 vehicle theft reports, up 80.2% from the 106 in 2019.
Whatcom County’s crimes against property totals also got a boost with its number of reported arsons doubling to 36 in 2020 and the number of reported extortion/blackmails doubling to 28 last year.
Overall, crime in Whatcom County was up 18.5%, with 15,302 reported offenses in 2020 — up from 12,914. Based on 228,000 people in the county, that’s approximately 67.1 crimes per 1,000 residents.
Other Whatcom highlights
▪ The state report did not include any data from the Lummi Nation Police Department or the Nooksack Tribal Police Department, and therefore The Herald’s analysis totals do not include crimes reported to those agencies. County data also does not include any arrests made by the Washington State Patrol in Whatcom County, as the report did not break out that data on a county-by-county basis.
▪ Whatcom’s number of hate crimes included in the report remained steady, dropping from 29 in 2019 to 28 in 2020. Bellingham had the highest number in the county with 17, followed by the sheriff’s office with seven. The county’s number of hate crimes against people who identify as Black doubled from four to eight, though, while the number of hate crimes against people who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native increased from zero to five. There were no reported hate crimes against people identifying as Asian in 2020, though, after there were two in 2019.
▪ The number of commissioned law enforcement officers in Whatcom County decreased by one to 308 in 2020. Ninety percent of them (274 officers) were male. The Bellingham Police Department had the most with 117 commissioned officers, while the sheriff’s office had 89. The county’s number of civilian employees in law enforcement increased by three to 182.
▪ Whatcom County law enforcement agencies made 324 arrests for DUI in 2020, down from the 471 in 2019.
▪ The number of reported rapes in the county dropped 23.9% from 88 to 67 last year. Statutory rape also was down 83.3% from 12 to two.
▪ The most reported crime in Whatcom County was larceny or theft. The 5,134 theft or larceny reports was up 15.8% from 2019, and represented more than a third of all crimes in the county last year.
▪ The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office had 3,454 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 10.3% from the 3,132 in 2019. Crimes against person were down 5.9% (752 total), crimes against property were up 21.4% (2,227 total) and crimes against community were up 0.7% (304 total). Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 34.4 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Bellingham Police Department had 9,127 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 18.3% from the 7,717 in 2019. Crimes against person were down 10.4% (1,203 total), crimes against property were up 41.0% (7,091 total) and crimes against community were down 33.8% (239 total). Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 93.1 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Blaine Police Department had 421 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 78.4% from the 236 in 2019. Crimes against person were up 18.2% (104 total), crimes against property were up 106.5% (221 total) and crimes against community were up 85.2% (50 total). Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 67.9 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Everson/Nooksack Police Departments had 75 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was down 2.6% from the 77 in 2019. Crimes against person were down 15.0% (17 total), crimes against property were up 1.8% (58 total) and there were no crimes against community committed for the second straight year. Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 16.6 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Ferndale Police Department had 855 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 0.5% from the 851 in 2019. Crimes against person were down 25.6% (119 total), crimes against property were up 24.4% (652 total) and crimes against community were down 62.1% (44 total). Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 55.8 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
“According to the latest FBI crime statistics, Ferndale is the 23rd safest city in Washington, and that’s a testament to our law enforcement professionals who work around the clock to keep our community safe,” Chief Kevin Turner told The Herald in a statement. “We are proud of the work we do at the Ferndale Police Department and will continue to live up to our values of being a stronger community together.”
▪ The Lynden Police Department had 673 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 8.7% from the 619 in 2019. Crimes against person were up 3.9% (106 total), crimes against property were up 18.2% (486 total) and crimes against community were down 33.3% (24 total). Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 41.6 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Sumas Police Department had 24 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was down 20.0% from the 30 in 2019. Crimes against person stayed the same with seven, crimes against property were down 53.8% (six total) and crimes against community stayed the same with three. Overall, the area covered by the agency saw 9.6 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, according to the report.
▪ The Western Washington University Police Department had 673 crimes reported in 2020, according to the report, which was up 167.1% from the 252 in 2019. Crimes against person were down 57.1% (nine total), crimes against property were up 216.6% (649 total) and crimes against community were down 100% (from four in 2019).
