Bellevue Police Department (Washington)

Command structure

History

Bellevue became incorporated in 1953 and the police department was created by City Ordinance #8 on April 28, 1953. Chief G.L. "Jerry" Plowman was appointed as Chief of Police. By May 1953, staff included four officers (Chief Plowman, Sgt. George Whitman, and Officers Bob Sollitto and Jack Allen), and service was 24 hours per day. The first police headquarters was located at Chief Plowman's house in the Surrey Downs neighborhood, where calls would be taken and the porch light turned on to notify Chief Plowman to stop by for orders. Police headquarters was moved to a rented space in the old V.F.W. hall, and in 1954 an old school at 100th Avenue and Main Street became the new home of the City of Bellevue. During the Department's formative years, surrounding departments, including the King County Police and the Washington State Patrol, helped the new staff at BPD to get started, and the city of Kirkland rented space in their jail for Bellevue to use in 1954. By 1955, the population of Bellevue was 9,000, and there were 10 Officers working for the Department. In October 1960, the Department moved into new quarters at 106th Avenue NE and NE 8th Street. By 1962, the population of Bellevue was 14,700, with Department personnel numbering 22 sworn officers. In 1963, the Department had its first dispatch center. In 1964, the Department moved to 116th Avenue SE and Main Street, where it remained until 2006. In 1965, the Department created a traffic division, and assigned 5 officers to Traffic enforcement duties. Also in 1965, Bellevue experienced its first homicide. In 1968, Bellevue had 49 sworn officers. That same year the college incentive program was offered. By 1970, the city, through annexation, grew to be the 4th largest city in the state of Washington, and the Department had 92 personnel. In 1971 the Department formed the vice and narcotics detail, as well as the harbor patrol. In 1972, the rank of Sergeant was eliminated with the move to combine the Police and Fire Departments into one department. The potential merger drew intense criticism and was eventually scrapped, but the Sergeant's position was never reinstated, and first line supervisors in the Department remain Lieutenants. In 1973, the department grew to 106 personnel, including 26 civilian personnel. In May of that year, one person was killed and another injured by the "Bellevue sniper." The sniper was apprehended and later convicted for homicide. In June 1975, the Department entered into a new phase of policing called "team policing" in which Officers worked more closely with the community than they had in the past. In order to meet the increased demands in the patrol section, 10 new positions were added in 1981. The city's public safety training center became a reality in 1983. The training facility houses a firing range, exercise facility, classrooms, drill tower, and K-9 area, as well as a large paved parking lot which is used for motorcycle officer training and recertification. The decade between 1975 and 1984 saw many advances and changes with the Department. During those years the crime prevention unit was formed, uniformed officers took a greater role in investigations, the Tactical Arms Group was formed, and the crime analysis unit was formed. 1986 saw the beginning of the Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) role. 7 officers received the initial training, which involved crime scene and evidence processing. CSI officers gather evidence at major crime scenes, resulting in faster and more thorough crime scene processing. In 1990 there were 144 Police Officers in Bellevue. A 1991 survey of Bellevue Residents found that 85.7 percent of respondents reported feeling very safe or moderately safe in their neighborhoods. Also in 1991 there were, for the first time in nearly two decades, no fatal traffic collisions. The first citizens academy graduated in 1992, and has been an important community outreach program that continues to this day. In 1994 and 1995, the Department went through several changes, including the opening of the Factoria substation, the initiation of a summer park patrol program, and the receipt of a Federal grant which added 4 officers to the Department. In September 1997 the Department began the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, placing Officers in each of Bellevue's 4 high schools. In 1998 the traffic division was moved under the umbrella of the patrol section, and the Department also formed its honor guard that year. The Department moved into the new Bellevue City Hall located at 450 110th Avenue NE in April 2006.

Patrol

Patrol Operations, which includes the Traffic Unit, is the largest and most visible section in the Department. Other units within Patrol include the Special Enforcement Team (SET), the Downtown Unit, the Community Stations in Crossroads and Factoria, and the K-9 Unit. Specialty assignments in Patrol include Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Bomb Squad, Hostage Negotiators, Crowd Control, Crime Scene Investigators (CSI), Field Training Officers (FTO), and Honor Guard. In 2014, due to an unusual amount of separations and retirements, staffing shortages created more challenges for Patrol and required a shifting of resources between specialty units. Despite this, Patrol made a number of high-profile arrests. Overall, Patrol made 343 felony arrests, 1,400 misdemeanor arrests, and 590 warrant arrests, an increase from 2013. Some improvements in Patrol operations include the selection by a committee of Patrol officers of two new vehicle models for patrol replacements, the Chevy Caprice and Ford Utility vehicles; and the addition of an electronic display board within the briefing room that regularly provides information on current events, process changes, officer recognition, officer safety issues, and reminders of the Patrol Mission (Crime /Traffic/Relationships). BPD does not patrol part of the Beaux Arts Village neighborhoods; the King County Sheriff's Office has jurisdiction to that unincorporated area. The neighborhoods of Eastgate, Tamara Hills, and Horizon View were annexed by the City of Bellevue on June 1, 2012, adding "about 5,400 new residents, 1,850 residences and 700 acres" to Bellevue.

Community policing

The Bellevue Police Department has six School Resource Officers. They also have a substation at the Factoria Mall, and at the Crossroads Mall. BPD also offers a Community Academy twice a year. A 2014 survey showed that the public strongly support the Bellevue Police department, and feel safe in Bellevue.

Crime

BPD offers a crime map on their website through CrimeMapper: http://www.crimemapping.com/map/wa/bellevue

Recruiting

In 2014, the Police Department hired a record number of employees: 24 police officers and 3 professional staff. This hiring accomplishment surpassed the 20 officers previously predicted in 2013. The PSU hiring team fully anticipates that this pace of hiring will not end anytime soon. We plan to hire 17 to 20 police officers annually for the next three to five years. Anticipated retirements of our current sworn staff, combined with the competitive hiring nature of the law enforcement community supports this prediction. The Bellevue Police Departments require new officers to have two years of college education or prior military experience, a GED, a Washington State Driver's License, and a clean criminal record. They, along with most of the surrounding departments, are hiring. They use http://www.nationaltestingnetwork.com/ to conduct initial testing of applicants.

Training

Bellevue Police have a training center that they share with the Bellevue Fire Department, located at 1838 116th Ave NE. New recruits train at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien. Those who pass the academy have in-service training for six months.

Radio and dispatch

Bellevue Police is dispatched by NORCOM. They communicate using an 800 MHz trunked radio system called Eastside Public Safety Communications Agency (EPSCA).

Bellevue Police radio channels: NCPOL-1, NCTAC-1, etc...

Relationship with other agencies

Both Bellevue School Security and Bellevue College Security are approved to talk on BPDs main radio channel, though BC security has their own channel they do most communicating on (not on the trunked system).