Year in Review 2020: Whatcom County Sheriff

On behalf of all members of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It an honor to serve the Point Roberts community.

In this era of calls for “police reform,” we are fortunate to serve such a supportive community that recognizes the professionalism of our deputies; the training they receive and the standards they adhere to. To further public trust we will be adopting a body-worn camera program in 2021.

The year 2020 was a very challenging time for our entire community and law enforcement was no exception.

Our ability to maintain full operational strength was affected by a hiring freeze that resulted from declines in county revenues; closures at the Police Academy that impaired our ability to train new deputies; personnel illness and mandated closures of some functions of our office. We anticipated more significant staffing reductions but very fortunately that was for the most part, averted.

We are pleased to report that we will be continuing the Point Roberts resident deputy program with two deputies. We thank deputy James Allen for his great service. He will be reassigned to other duties in January. Deputy Neil Ingerman will continue to serve at the Point and will be joined by deputy Trent Leach. Neil and Trent are both community-oriented deputies and I have no doubt they will continue to serve the community well.

We will continue our mental health deputy program with two deputies. The program is very successful and is coordinated with the increased myriad of services provided by the county’s health department.  A new crisis stabilization center will facilitate more diversion and treatment will open shortly. The resident deputies will coordinate with the mental health deputy.

We were awarded generous grants to purchase an ocean-going vessel to patrol coastal areas and reach Point Roberts. The vessel will be moored at Blaine marina and will be available to respond and transport equipment to the Point and arrested persons from the Point.

The Sheriff’s Office annual report can be viewed at bit.ly/2IVuRye.

Thank you!