Gang violence still a concern at Puyallup Fair

Puyallup Police Officer Mike Melzo and Captain Scott Engle have just been called to a fight in progress near the Extreme Scream.

The ride is popular among teenagers, and the place they tend to congregate. It is located at the intersection of two busy attractions: the carnival midway and the grandstand.

As the two officers respond, a suspect in a black shirt runs eastbound through the fairgrounds. Melzo and Engle head toward the ShowPlex to look for him.

Back at the Extreme Scream, a Lakewood police officer stands atop a strategically positioned lookout post to scan the crowd.

On this particular night at the Puyallup Fair, there are roughly 35 police officers from various agencies patrolling the grounds. Others monitor a perimeter outside known as the Fair District.

For the 17-day run of the fair, which began on Sept. 7 and ends Sept. 23, 60 police officers from 14 agencies outside of Puyallup are called in to help with security.

“When we have anywhere between 40,000 to 130,000 people come to our city in one day, which is a city of just under 40,000, it overwhelms the capabilities and resources of a local police department,” said Dave McDonald, deputy chief of the Puyallup Police Department.

In 2009, officers responded to two violent confrontations between rival gang members on the closing weekend of the Puyallup Fair.

A 19-year-old man from Tacoma was stabbed three times in the abdomen during an argument on the midway. The following day, shots were fired at a near-by Taco Bell inside the Fair District.

“Their intent was to just come to the fair – ‘Do the Puyallup’ – but then they see another rival gang member and that’s when the problems arise,” said Deputy Chief McDonald.

It’s not just Puyallup.

The Northwest Washington Fair in Lynden put an outright ban on known gang members this year following a series of shootings that marred last year’s festivities, according to The News Tribune.

While the organizers of the Puyallup Fair do not deny gang members entrance, police are trained to keep a close eye on trouble-makers.

“We may make social contact with those folks and just say, ‘Hey, we know who you are. You’re welcome here as long as you’re behaving and you’re having a good time. But any gang signs or gang paraphernalia, anything like that, you’re going to be ejected,'” said McDonald, who calls the approach “behavior-based.”

To prevent potential violence between rival groups, officers are permitted to restrict gang attire such as certain clothing, hats, and bandanas.

“We ask them to go back to their car and take their gang attire off and come back with something else,” said Captain Engle, an 11-year veteran of Puyallup PD. “Some people will not take it off. If they don’t want to take it off, then they have to leave the property.”

Meanwhile, specialized gang detectives patrol the grounds to identify further signs of potential gang involvement, and officers routinely check for warrants when they spot known gang members inside the fair, or elsewhere in the Fair District.

“Puyallup doesn’t really have a gang problem,” said Officer Melzo, who has been with PPD for six years. “The problem is that the gangs from Tacoma and other areas of Washington end up coming to the fair because it’s a huge attraction.”

Most gang-related activity is concentrated on the midway, where teens hangout. Fewer officers patrol exhibit areas and “SillyVille,” for example, where you are more likely to see families and children.

“The people that come to look for trouble, they’re going to look for trouble right there,” said McDonald, pointing to the Extreme Scream.

The number of entrances and lack of security checkpoints make violent encounters inside the fair more difficult to prevent. As a privately owned property, bag checks and metal detectors are not required.

“We obviously would much prefer, from a safety and security standpoint, that we had those checkpoints in place,” Engle said. “That also sends a message to people coming in that this is a safe and secure environment.”

Confrontations that begin inside the fair also have the potential to spill onto the streets.

Last Friday, three teenagers “claiming to be gang members” attacked a man as he left the fair with his family, according to witnesses.

The teens, two 13-year-olds and a 16-year-old, were booked into jail for assault, malicious mischief, and underage drinking.

Keeping their culture safe

It is just before 10 p.m. on one of the busiest nights of the fair. Students from two rival high schools begin to pour through the gates.

The big football game between Rogers High School and Emerald Ridge High School has just ended, and those wearing their school spirit attire can get into the fair for free.

Captain Engle asks the nearest group of students about the score.

“28 to 17!” a girl from Rogers shouts. “We won!”
Both Captain Engle and Officer Melzo grew up in the Puyallup area and look forward to patrolling the fair each year.

“You know this as a kid growing up here, getting out of school early, it’s just something that’s part of our culture and part of our heritage here,” Engle said. “It’s hard not to enjoy the fair.”

But officers will get just one or two days off during the entire run of the fair, often working seven days in a row.

“Anybody that has a family is going to tell you that that really takes a toll. They work twelve hour shifts, they are long days,” Engle said. “You know that this is part of the job. In the month of September you work.”

Melzo said he is divorced and usually gets to spend time with his 10-year-old daughter on the weekends, but will only get to see her a few times during the fair.

Both officers say their children and their love for Puyallup motivate them to work the long hours to keep fairgoers safe.