Bellevue Police Department (Washington)

Bellevue Police Department
Abbreviation	BPD
Agency overview
Preceding agency	Municipal Police
Employees	225
Annual budget	$45,000,000
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Bellevue, Washington, USA
Size	square miles
Population	143,000
General nature	Local civilian police
Operational structure
Police Officers	185
Civilians	47
Agency executive	Steve Mylett, Chief
Special Units	List Patrol Investigations SWAT Traffic SET
Stations	List City Hall Station Factoria Substation Crossroads Substation
Website
http://www.bellevuewa.gov/police.htm

The Bellevue Police Department is located in Bellevue, Washington. As of 2018, there were 185 commissioned officers and 47 civilian employees. The department's annual operating budget is about $45 million. It services 143,000 people. The main Bellevue Police Station is located in Bellevue City Hall, at 450 110th Avenue Northeast. There are also two other substations throughout the city. BPD patrol six districts. The current Chief of Police is Steve Mylett.

Command structure

• Police Chief Steve Mylett
• Assistant Chief Patrick Arpin
• Assistant Chief Carl Kleinecht
• Major of Patrol Operations Andrew Popochock
• Major of Administrative Services Jon Hoffman
• Major of Investigations John McCracken

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.

Sections of department

Patrol

Patrol Operations, which includes the Traffic Unit, is the largest and most visible section in the Department. Other units within Patrol include the bike patrol, 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, Crisis Response Team, Crowd Control, Crime Scene Investigators (CSI), Field Training Officers (FTO), and Honor Guard. After several years of staffing challenges, in 2019 the Bellevue Police Department was nearly fully staffed, with only a few openings, mainly for newly non-commissioned employees. In spite of those staffing shortages, Bellevue residents experienced a decrease in property crimes for the fifth year in a row. In 2018, residential burglaries decreased by 21% and car prowls decreased 20% over 2017. Bellevue continues to enjoy a very low crime rate compared to similarly sized cities. The Bellevue Police Sector Captain program continues to successfully connect Bellevue residents with the Sector Captains responsible for their defined area. Chief Mylett began the program in 2015 when he saw a need for a direct point of contact for Bellevue Residents or businesses with questions or concerns related to crime or police activity. The city is split into three sectors, North, West, and South. The Citizens Advisory Councils were formed as an important part of the Bellevue Tomorrows Program, a program designed to examine successes of the past, as well as current policies, practices, and procedures of the Bellevue Police Department, with an eye towards making lasting improvements for the future. The six citizen advisory councils incorporate a broad cross-section of the Bellevue community. The first Citizen Advisory Council formed in early 2016 with the African American Advisory Council. Since then, five additional councils have been formed: Muslim, Latino, LGBTQI, Interfaith, and Asian and Pacific Islander. The advisory councils meet every three months and discuss how to improve the delivery of services that the Bellevue Police Department provides to the community. The councils collaborate with the department on projects and provide guidance to the Chief of Police on best practices and approaches. They also help to identify barriers that exist between police officers and members of the community and develop strategies to eliminate the barriers.

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

Offenses, first six months of the year	2013	2014
Violent crimes
Homicide	1	1
Rape	10	17
Robbery	20	34
Aggravated Assault	27	22
Violent Crime Total	58	74
Property crimes
Burglary	393	296
Larceny	1485	1849
MV Theft	116	136
Arson	10	6
Property Crime Total	1994	2281
Total Part 1 Crimes	2052	2355

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.

Entry-Level Police Officer Salary	$4,961 to $6,873
Experienced Police Officer Salary	$5,917 to $6,873

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).

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in Washington
• List of U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies

External links

• Bellevue Police Department
• City of Bellevue, WA
• Department Organization Chart
• Bellevue Police 2014 Annual Report
• Bellevue Police Foundation
• NORCOM Communications Center