Bellevue Police Detective Marks 40 Years as a Cop

When Molly McBride was hired by the Bellevue Police Department in January of 1978, Bellevue was a sleepy Eastside suburb of just 70,000 residents, a far cry from the bustling city it is today.  Detective McBride recently marked her 40th anniversary as a Bellevue Cop, and is the longest serving member in the history of the Bellevue Police Department.

Molly was hired on January 16th, 1978 and her first duty in the department was a patrol officer, a position she held for the first seven years of her career. Molly was one of only ten females in the police department at a time when law enforcement was primarily a male dominated profession. In February of 1985, Molly was promoted to Detective in the investigations division.  While in Detectives, she investigated property crimes, crimes against persons and assaults. Molly was the first female to be assigned to the Detective Unit.

In June of 1997 until March of 2011, Molly returned to the patrol Section. During that time, Molly was selected by her peers as Officer of the year for her work ethic and outstanding ability to deal with people in crisis. During her second stint in patrol, she became a field training officer, helping to train a number of new officers as they learned the ins and outs of police work. Molly put her people skills to good use as a member of the Department’s Hostage Negotiation Team, and has successfully negotiated resolutions at a number of incident scenes. Molly became a peer counselor and has participated numerous times on interviews of Police Officer applicants. Nearly every current member of the Bellevue police department has had Molly involved in some portion of their hiring or training process.

In March of 2011, 25 years after her first experience as a Detective, Molly returned to the Investigations Section as a Special Assault Unit Detective, where she investigated crimes against children.

In October 2016 she transferred to the hiring unit as a background investigator, checking the background of individuals that were applying to become Bellevue Police Officers.

Molly has been married for 38 years. She met her husband John McBride while both were Officers at the Bellevue Police Department. The McBrides open their home every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas to all Bellevue Police Officers that have to work on those holidays, providing a full holiday meal to those Officers that must be away from their families.

Molly has no plans of retiring any time soon.