Lowering the Boom : Proposed Noise Law Would Crack Down Fast on Anyone Who Cranks Up the Volume

Boom boom, do do, boom boom, do do, boom boom . . .

The loud, thumping bass sounds of stereos and “boom boxes” in the wee hours of the morning have been enough to almost drive people crazy, some residents complain.

But what’s a citizen to do? Knock on the offending neighbor’s door?

Not likely, said Wilshire Square resident Guy Ball, “because you fear they might come after you. The people who (play loud music) are not people you get friendly with.”

Call the police?

Under existing law, police officers cannot issue a ticket unless they have been there at least once before and a witness is willing to sign a complaint. And a person’s fear of retaliation, Ball added, is not erased by a police officer’s badge.

“Sometimes you turn your TV up to block (the noise) out,” he said, “but when you want to go to bed, you want to go to bed, and it’s too loud.”

But a new ordinance to be considered by the City Council on Tuesday could turn a booming party into a bust.

Under the proposed law, anyone who cranks up the volume or creates loud noise will be issued a ticket the first time police officers are called out, and a neighbor will not have to sign the complaint.

Although a fee schedule is still being developed, city officials said violators could end up having to pay between $125 to $250 for the first offense. Follow-up calls would result in higher penalties, plus costs for the time of the officers answering the complaints, City Atty. Edward J. Cooper said.

“It’s going to give residents peace of mind,” said Councilman Robert L. Richardson, who has pushed for the new law. Noise and “disturbing the peace” complaints are among the most often mentioned by citizens, he added.

While the proposed ordinance is aimed at loud parties, it broadly prohibits “loud and raucous noise from sound-making or amplifying devices” on any private or public property, parks or streets. It can be enforced if the noise is loud enough to “unreasonably interfere with the peace and quiet of other persons,” or “unreasonably annoy, disturb, impair or endanger the comfort, repose, health, or safety of other persons.”

The hour, place and circumstances of the noise will be considered in determining whether the disturbance is unreasonable, according to the proposed ordinance distributed to council members.

Cooper said the change in the law is modeled after an anti-noise ordinance that has been on the books in Los Angeles for at least two decades.

But given the imprecise definition of what constitutes “loud and raucous noise,” a local car stereo store manager said the “basic” equipment added on to the back of his hatchback could test the limits of the proposed law.

“I think even a small system like mine could easily violate that ordinance,” Scott Starkey said.

State law already authorizes law enforcement officers to issue tickets if the music from a car can be heard more than 50 feet away, Police Chief Paul M. Walters said.

The Police Department estimates that each year it receives about 7,750 “disturbing the peace” calls--usually related to loud radios, stereos or amplified music instruments.

“Because of the potentially volatile nature of these calls, due to the large crowds that are frequently associated with this activity, each of these calls requires the response of two patrol units,” a report to the council states. “Approximately 40% of these disturbances of the peace are related to parties or other crowd-gathering functions.”

Some parties may have a band or a disc jockey, and the hosts will not turn down the volume, Walters said. “Unless (neighbors) are willing to prosecute, we cannot do anything (under the current law). You want to try to do something, but the law does not allow you.”

While the current ordinance allows the city to bill the responsible persons if multiple response calls are made by police, Walters said it has been ineffective, and he believed no one had been billed.

City officials also said that by being able to issue citations on the initial response, police officers will be free to answer higher priority calls for service.

“When the police go out, we have limited resources,” Councilman Richardson said. “We want to make sure they have the ability to deal with (the problem) the first time they go, because we may not be able to go out the second, third, or fourth time they get complaints. We may not be able to stretch the resources.”