When weekends get rowdy, police get involved, and for the streets of College Hill, that means seeing the familiar face of beat cop and Pullman Police Officer Shane Emerson.

“I grew up here,” Emerson said. “So I really put my heart into College Hill, because I want to make it a safer place.”

The Pullman Police Department created the College Hill beat position in 1998 to better manage weekend parties. Since then, the role has become an integral feature of the community.

“We continue to improve in developing that position,” Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins said. “I think over the years we’ve seen a major improvement in the College Hill area.”

Originally three officers patrolled separate regions of College Hill. Now Emerson is primarily responsible for the area, but he receives regular assistance from other Pullman police officers.

Before he was assigned to the hill at the beginning of this year, Emerson served as a student resource officer for the Pullman School District.

Jenkins said the College Hill officers serve as liaisons to the community and receive praises for their work. He said while their primary role is to enforce laws, they also educate the community on preventing problems – from littering to violence to substance abuse.

“I try to be as real as possible with the people I talk to,” Emerson said. “I work to the best of my ability, and I think I’ve gotten a great response.”

DJ Goldfinger, general manager of the Stubblefields bar, remarked at the speed with which the College Hill officers respond to calls – with or without being given a reason.

“They’re very responsive,” Goldfinger said. “If you call them, they’re there in, like, two minutes. How can you beat that?”

Bob Cady, owner of The Coug bar, said his experience with the College Hill officers has been one of care and respect.

“They’re just as much members of this community as anyone else, and that’s what makes it so successful,” he said.

Their role entails more than writing tickets and stopping fights, Cady said. The officers work directly with local businesses to address issues of mutual concern.

“As a business owner, the College Hill beat cop situation has been fantastic,” he said. “It’s not an adversarial relationship whatsoever.”

Marissa Hice, director of campus outreach for ASWSU and a member of the College Hill Association’s board of directors, said she appreciates the beat cop role.

“I think they do a good job, and they’ve got their priorities in the right place,” Hice said. “They know what it’s like to be a 20-something-year-old college student.”

Emerson said he loves his job and exercises as much discretion as he can when dealing with students.

“Just be respectful,” he said. “Partying at three in the morning just isn’t reasonable. If this kind of thing were to happen in another area, there’d be people calling repeatedly every night.”

Emerson said he has seen a decrease in violence this year, but would like to see more effort on the part of students to stop littering on the hill.

In contrast to the current officer allocation, Hice said it would benefit the community to assign more officers to the College Hill beat.

“The more people that are permanently stationed to College Hill, the more comfortable students will be,” she said.

Hice said Emerson is easy to get along with, and residents of College Hill like having him around.

And for Goldfinger, the response to Emerson was similar.

“People like him,” he said. “He chats with you and everything. He’s a likeable person, and that helps.”