Noisy neighbors who party every weekend

[ck0221]

Suddenly a couple months ago, our immediate neighbor on our left started to have parties every night on the weekend. The music would be so loud that I would either be kept up or I would be woken up in the middle of the night anytime from 2AM to 5AM. The neighbor's friends would carrying on conversations loudly in the streets for 15 or more minutes at a time and sometimes it'll quiet down and they'll all come outside again and talk. Not only are they doing that, most of their friends' cars have loud exhausts and often leave their cars idling (rumbling) as they have their conversations.

We finally couldn't stand it and called the police. Since then, we've called the police 2 more times (this weekend once for each night) since it's getting out of hand.

On Sunday morning, 3 police cars pull up and start banging on that neighbor's door and had someone from that house stand in the street for an hour while the officers walked back and forth from the house.

My questions are:
1. Will the cops get annoyed with me if I continue to call them whenever they make that kind of noise in the middle of the night?
2. Is it the right thing to do or should I try to resolve it with my neighbor (who I've never met)?
3. Will the divulge who called the police on them so many times?
4. When I call the police and they quiet down before officers can get to the house (sometimes we don't get woken up until the party is over and people are leaving), am I in the wrong for anything?
5. What would cause the police to send 3 cruisers to the house after everything had been quiet?

Thanks for the help!

[retdetsgt]

If they're truly disturbing the neighborhood, the police will have no problem responding, that's what we do.

It's your call on contacting them first. If it goes well, they will quiet down w/o police being called later. If it doesn't and you have to call the police, they will know who called them.

My experience is that loud parties usually involve drinking and it's best to let the cops handle it.

Last year, the neighbor directly behind me was having a loud party at 2 in the morning. I started to go over there and realized that if the homeowner got cute with me, it could deteriorate rapidly based on my own mood. So I called my police, they sent two cars over (probably everyone on duty that night) and it shut down. Haven't had a single problem with them since.

[ck0221]

Unfortunately we've called 3 times total and the first time I actually called the non emergency dispatch back after the noise stopped to let them know that it's stopped and they didn't need to send out anyone. Their response was "we've already sent someone out there"...oops.

The second and third time it seemed like they quieted down a bit but then later during that night, people would start coming out of the house again yelling and running down the sidewalk in their heels and slamming car doors.

The three police cars in front of the house early Sunday morning also unnerved me. I don't really want them to get into serious trouble. I just want them to be respectful. They can party as much as they want in their house without disturbing anyone in the middle of the night.

Should I keep on calling if they continue to party the way they have been the past few weekends?

[retdetsgt]

The three police cars in front of the house early Sunday morning also unnerved me. I don't really want them to get into serious trouble. I just want them to be respectful. They can party as much as they want in their house without disturbing anyone in the middle of the night.

Should I keep on calling if they continue to party the way they have been the past few weekends?

Sounds like you have a philosophical dilemma, do you want them to stop or not?

At some point, the police will get tired of calls and make their lives miserable enough that they will cool it. The only time the police get ticked on those calls if the party isn't that loud. Do what you want, if it were me, my sleep would be more important than whether or not they got into trouble.

[Cat_Doc]

I don't know what state you are in, but we cannot cite on the loud music without a complainant who is willing to press charges and testify that the noise was loud, unreasonable and evasive. With that said, we can certainly respond to advise it would be in the best interest of the offenders to lower their music and if we see secondary violations such as minors in possession or consuming alcohol, we can act on that. You still may be called as a witness to lay a foundation that the police were called to the location and did not just pick out the house to snoop around on their own volition.

You might want to speak with a police supervisor in your area and inquire if the police can cite with the state as a victim or if you are required to press charges.

Weigh any additional inquiries or actions based upon what you learned and whether or not you have had enough and are willing to testify against your neighbors or you just want to keep dropping a dime when they are disruptive.

[ck0221]

Definitely want it to stop. We actually have a little one whose room is also in the front of the house. So far she's sleeping through most of it but I'm waking anywhere from 1 to 3 times a night. It's rather frustrating. I'm located in texas. What will happen the next time the cops get called? Will I need to call every time or will those who are on patrol come by every so often?

[retdetsgt]

I don't know what state you are in, but we cannot cite on the loud music without a complainant who is willing to press charges and testify that the noise was loud, unreasonable and evasive.

Our city ordinance allows us to cite if the noise is still going on when we arrive. I don't think I've ever had to have a complainant press charges. I like it that way. In fact, I generally warned the party and then checked back in a half hour or so if I had time at all. That was generally when I cited. I also worked pretty rough neighborhoods and it was always better if they didn't know who called the police.

[Cat_Doc]

Our city ordinance allows us to cite if the noise is still going on when we arrive. I don't think I've ever had to have a complainant press charges. I like it that way. In fact, I generally warned the party and then checked back in a half hour or so if I had time at all. That was generally when I cited. I also worked pretty rough neighborhoods and it was always better if they didn't know who called the police.

Yep, when I first started we would cite under the Disorderly Conduct statute with the "state" being the victim. Then they had a couple of incidents causing the ruling that the police officer's (state) could not be the victim.

Normally, we could handle the problem by telling the host of the party that they would be arrested if we came back, but actually charging on the noise violation required a victim other than the police.

[retdetsgt]

That's sometimes the nice thing about being a municipal cop. The city has ordinances that strictly address loud music, parties, etc between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Stuff the state nor even the county has. There is no state charge for anything like that and I'm not sure about the county.

[Joeyd6]

I had a neighbor like that. Since I live with a bunch of old people who ar eup at 5 am and doing their thing, and my neighbor usually hits the sack at the same time, we have what we call a "noise party" at 7 am. My one neighbor fills and revs the chain saw and cuts random branches from his trees, I run the lawn mower to burn of that old gas....one guy has a remote controlled gas car that is pretty loud, one guy has a old World War somthing hand crank siren for air raids, etc.... One neighbors kid accidentally has the baseball roll into the yeard and he goes and rings the bell and waits till they answer to ask for permisison to get it. It took two Sundays but the neighbor learned quickly and parties ended at 11.

[Curt581]

I had a neighbor like that. Since I live with a bunch of old people who ar eup at 5 am and doing their thing, and my neighbor usually hits the sack at the same time, we have what we call a "noise party" at 7 am. My one neighbor fills and revs the chain saw and cuts random branches from his trees, I run the lawn mower to burn of that old gas....one guy has a remote controlled gas car that is pretty loud, one guy has a old World War somthing hand crank siren for air raids, etc.... One neighbors kid accidentally has the baseball roll into the yeard and he goes and rings the bell and waits till they answer to ask for permisison to get it. It took two Sundays but the neighbor learned quickly and parties ended at 11.

I love it when a plan comes together.

[Silver Fox]

[QUOTE=ck0221;1061602]
On Sunday morning, 3 police cars pull up and start banging on that neighbor's door and had someone from that house stand in the street for an hour while the officers walked back and forth from the house.


Going by the above ...It looks like the last visit by the police may have rectified your problem.
Also, in following the thread it looks like Retdetsgt and Cat_Doc have given their professional opinions and have answered your questions.

Being that I've had quite similar problems with a neighbor I'll add a personal note that may be helpful.
Since you've never met these neighbors, it might be a good idea for you and your wife to walk over, introduce yourselves and welcome them to the neighborhood. If they were there before you, then tell them you're glad to be a part of it. As an added good will gesture and to add sincerity to your visit it wouldn't hurt to take a home made/bakery cake, pie, cookies, Etc.
This would be a good will visit and at this time, if it were me, I wouldn't comment on the noise in the past.
In leaving it's always helpful to say, "if we can ever be of any help, don't hesitate to call."

In my situation and by doing this, we've become very close friends with this couple and their two teenage boys.

[ck0221]

Thanks everyone for your responses. We will try to get to know them and hopefully forge a friendship. Funny thing that there are never any lights in except for on the weekends!

Let's hope this coming weekend will be a quiet and peaceful one!

[Safety Steve]

Just do the right thing and the Boys in Blue will take care of business. Quit thinking about it with your emotions, think logically (so far you have, keep up the good work). Be Safe.

[Bob Loblaw]

We've got the same thing going on behind us. I call an on-duty officer and he goes by and has a stern talking-to with them. If that doesn't work, then they're going to start getting citations.

Don't worry that your calls are going to annoy the police. I, for one, didn't mind getting noise disturbance calls when I was on night shift. More often than not, they usually ended up being at least a DUI (maybe a drug possession arrest) after the party was shut down. Nothing will kill a "party house" like knowing that you can't party there anymore because the police are around the corner with plenty of handcuffs, criminal complaint forms and fresh Bic pens.