The crime rate in Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham, Wash. has remained steady based on police reports from the last four years. Katrin Dearborn is a Bellingham Police officer who reported that of the 309 calls officers responded to in the Whatcom Falls neighborhood last year, only 22 were inside the Whatcom Falls Park boundaries.
Leah Dutton lives near Lake Padden and has come to the park five times this year. She said she likes the off-leash area for her dog and her children enjoy the renovated play structures. Dutton voiced concern about the presence of transients in Whatcom Falls Park.
“I’ve seen homeless people bathing in the creek,” Dutton said. “That would make me probably not want to go on the trails by myself, unless there was a lot of other people around the park.”
According to Dearborn, a litter compliance officer often contacts transients in Whatcom Falls Park and in other parks throughout the city.
“One of the [litter compliance officer’s] jobs is to clean up the homeless camps on city property,” Dearborn said. If unoccupied camps are discovered, the officer leaves a notice informing the transients that they need to move their belongings. Whatever is not removed by the specified time is hauled away by the officer, Dearborn said.
Usually after the litter compliance officer contacts transients they move to another area. For this reason, Dearborn said, the job is ongoing.
Some visitors to the park noted other issues besides the presence of transients. Ene Lewis lives across the street from Whatcom Falls Park and visited it nearly every day when bald eagles were nesting in the trees. Even though there are currently no active nests, Lewis still comes to the park frequently. She enjoys walking the trails and has a studio downtown. Sometimes she takes a trail through the park and strolls all the way to her studio. Lewis said she is not been aware of any major crimes or issues in the park.
“The worst I’ve ever seen was a defaced restroom and that was years ago,” Lewis said.
Dearborn mentioned that most of the crimes committed in Whatcom Falls Park are liquor law violations, graffiti and car prowling. Those particular crimes are fairly common in most parks in Bellingham, she said.
“A good portion [of crimes] are the liquor law violations,” Dearborn said. “[They are] either transient or underage people going into the park to drink after hours.” She added that the Bellingham Police enforce the 10 p.m. closure of all city parks.
If an area is targeted repeatedly, officers do go undercover to increase security. Dearborn explained this occurred in one instance at Lake Padden.
“We had a rash of cars getting broken into,” Dearborn said, “We put people out there undercover just to make sure. The patrol officers went there more often to deter [crime].”
The Bellingham Police have never needed to station undercover officers at Whatcom Falls Park. Officers who are on night patrol will drive through the park after hours and contact individuals as they see them, Dearborn said.
Whatcom Falls Park continues to attract new visitors, despite occasional criminal activity. Roger Bare came up from Marysville, Wash. to hike the trails and observe the creek and scenery.
“The trails are nicely groomed,” Bare said. “The stone bridge over the falls is beautiful.” He added that being able to ride mountain bikes in the park was a real privilege, because most parks do not allow that activity where he lives.
Dearborn said Whatcom Falls Park and the entire Whatcom Falls neighborhood are wonderful. The people who live in the neighborhood are fortunate in many respects, she said.
“They really don’t have that much crime compared to some other neighborhoods,” Dearborn said.
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