Bellingham turns to ‘downtown ambassadors’ to fill gaps from police staffing shortage

Bellingham will soon start using unarmed “downtown ambassadors” as added security to help mitigate its shortage of police officers.

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Downtown ambassadors will be unarmed, fully vaccinated, and “trained in de-escalation techniques,” according to a recent report from the Bellingham Herald. The idea is to have “a non-emergent response that can be quick and nimble and have eyes on the street,” a senior planner with the city told the Herald.

For KIRO Newsradio host Gee Scott, this is a program that represents a win-win for all involved, especially as local businesses in the Puget Sound region have been vocal about upticks in property crimes.

“I love this idea,” he said on Monday’s Gee Scott & Ursula Reutin Show. “In order for us to really get on top of this mess that’s going on right now — and when I say mess, I mean the increase in crime that is happening all over — it is going to take all hands on deck. It’s going to take police, it’s going to take community, it’s going to take government and everything to really get on top of what’s going on.”

As Gee pointed out, it’s little different from businesses that hire their own private security.

“When I go to the gym at LA Fitness over there in Puyallup, there is this security guard driving through the parking lot,” he described. “I’m sure that security guard is unarmed, right? I’m sure that this security guard is not trained like a police officer. But here’s one thing that I love about the security officer that is driving and patrolling around the parking lot: I guarantee you it discourages thieves from breaking in cars.”

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Host Ursula Reutin, though, expressed a measure of skepticism.

“Why would the city need to hire private security if they do have a police force?” she posited. “Wouldn’t you rather they boost their police department numbers?”

“I’m not trying to deride mall cops, but I have a different feeling when I see someone in one of those segways going around the mall than I do if I see a commission officer,” she added.

UPDATE, 11:54am: 

The Downtown Seattle Association clarified in a statement to KIRO Newsradio’s Gee & Ursula Show that the organization has its own ambassador program in Seattle, and has “recently entered into a contract” with a private security firm to help fill gaps in “troublesome” areas like Third Avenue between Pine and Union.

“We’ve actually been investing in either private security or SPD overtime patrols for quite some time,” a DSA spokesperson noted.

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.