In 2016, Officer Jacob Esparza was fired after being arrested on domestic violence charges. He pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of harassment with domestic violence, a gross misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 364 days in jail, with 362 days suspended. Additionally, in 2015, Esparza was involved in an incident where a man alleged excessive force during an arrest. The city settled the lawsuit for $100,000 in 2018.
[Return to blog post](https://watchaudits.com/officer-jacob-esparza-bellingham-police-department/)
.
