BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Bellingham City Council, mayor and other leaders heard from residents about their concerns about public safety at virtual community meeting last evening.
Residents expressed concerns about housing prices, drug deals in their neighborhoods and rising crime rates.
Chief Deputy for the Bellingham Police Department Don Ahlmer told the meeting that while crime rates are up, the numbers have to be viewed with perspective.
“If you look at the numbers for aggravated assault, if a seven year average is 124, the last three-year average is roughly 50 more a year. You’re looking at one more a assault week,” said Ahlmer. “So, numbers are numbers. But I don’t want the public or anybody watching this to think, oh my gosh, there’s like a hundred extra assaults a day.”
Mayor Seth Fleetwood said the city needs more police officers.
“We’re fortunate to have a police department that is exceptional, made up of capable, caring, highly confident, trained professionals,” said Fleetwood. “But our staffing levels are down and we’re doing all we can to staff back up. And I know that we’re going to get there.”
We’ll air another episode of our KGMI series Eye On Crime tomorrow, Wednesday, May 18th.
This week we focus on local business owners and how they’ve been impacted.
Hear the segment live here on the KGMI Morning News, KGMI Konnects and the Afternooon News.
You can also hear extended versions of our series on our website KGMI.COM.