Bellingham, WA
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After nearly 24 years of service to our Bellingham community Rich Schwallie is saying farewell. Since his hire date in May of 1992 he has held numerous positions with BPD. He has worked as a Detective with our Special Investigations Unit and as an Intel Officer with Major Crimes.
Rich pioneered forensic video analysis for our agency and has served as our Video Analyst since 2004. He is a member of the National Technical Investigators' Association (NATIA), Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit (LEIU) and Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA). Over the last 12 years Rich has processed over 2000 video and audio items of evidence for Whatcom County Agencies, locally based Federal Agencies, and smaller Law Enforcement Agencies as far away as Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Rich served our country in the United States Navy specializing in electronics. His skills have been put to the test many times in his tenure with BPD. As an example he was integral in building a microwave video system for our Hazardous Devices Unit.
In the mid 1990's we instituted “Back To the Future” as a segment of our community outreach program. A group of officers, including Rich, were selected to be outfitted with old time uniforms from the origins of our agency (circa 1900). It was common to see these officers at parades and other civic events.
We know that this is an exciting time and we extend our best wishes to Rich and his family. Thank you for your dedication to our agency and your commitment to community.
