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After five years working College Hill, Officer Carl Bell knows fights.

Bell has been an Officer in the Pullman Police Department for the past nine years. Out of those nine, he spent five years working the six p.m. to four a.m. College Hill shift. Now, Bell is glad he switched to the day shift.

A significant fight for Bell happened on the bottom floor of Mike's Bar. Bell and other officers entered to break up a fight and found themselves surrounded. Using Tasers and any force necessary, officers fought back to break up the fight, Bell said.

Even with standard training, police enter a scene unaware of what will happen. There is always a possibility of something more happening. There could be more people than expected or the suspect could have a weapon, Bell said. No fight is the same so safety is the first thing on an officer's mind.

Dealing with the College Hill Shift gets old, Bell said. Most of the fights occur at bar closing time and especially after football games, he said. People get upset that they are being kicked out or someone bumps into them so they pick a fight, he said.

"Drunk people don't realize what they are doing," he said. They think they know the laws and try to argue with police, Bell said.

It is rare to respond to a fight where no one is drinking, he said. "Every fight here probably is a 100 percent related to alcohol," Bell said.

Intoxicated people get a "superman complex", he said. Someone outside the bar pick fights and then a mob mentality starts. People get into a fight and then their friend’s jump in to back them up, Bell said.

According to Pullman Police annual reports, assaults nearly doubled from 2007 to 2008. People are now growing tired of the fighting so they are reporting disturbances,Bell said.

"I don't think it has increased, just the amount of reports has," Bell said.

In April 2008, City Council passed the fighting ordinance. It fines any party involved in a fight and since it passed 15 people have been ticketed. The first time participants are fined $250. Repeat offenders must attend a court hearing and can be fined anywhere from $500 to $1,000.

Officer Bell has never written a fighting ticket. The ordinance passed to hold people accountable for their actions, Bell said. A lot of times in fights people do not want to press charges or do anything to the parties involved, he said. Now, there is more punishment for their actions, he said.

With the amount of time that was put into passing the ordinance Bell hopes it is worth it, he said. People know they can get a ticket which is an improvement, Bell said.

"I understand why they did it but if the officer has enough to write a ticket then he has enough to arrest," Bell said. "It hasn't changed the way we do our jobs."

A junior at WSU and fraternity member witnessed a number of fights in both his frat and on College Hill. "Generally real fights happen at the bars or on the street," he said.

In the frat people fight but are fine the next day, he said. Alcohol is a common factor. "Without alcohol there probably would not be any fights," he said.

The fraternity member has been in a numbder of fights in the past year yet, he has never been issued a fighting ticket.

One particular night the police were called and he, along with another friend, tried to run, he said. The police threatened the two with Tasers and told them to sit on the curb. The boys explained the situation and then were told to leave before the other officers arrived, he said.

"He (the officer) just said 'don't be stupid' and 'you can't be fighting'," he said. "The guy called us out so we're not going to back down."

However, the majority of the fights happening on College Hill and in the frats are not being reported, he said. People know that when they fight there is a winner and a loser, he said. You fight and then it is over, he said.

"I'd say 95 percent of all fights do not get reported," he said.

Although Officer Bell mentioned working with drunken people on College Hill got old quickly, he still understands what it is like as a student.

"I was a college student, so I know how they behave," he said.

Bell deals with crime every day and the hardest part is seeing people being taken advantage of, he said. But his time and effort pays off when criminals are brought to justice, he said. With the fighting ordinance people are actually held accountable for their actions, Bell said.

Contact Info:

Fraternity Source
*Wished to remain anonymous

Carl Bell
509-334-0802

Documents
http://www.pullman-wa.gov/Departments/Police/DrawOnePage.aspx?PageID=962