Is this normal for cops?
June 7, 2009 2:45 PM   Subscribe

Shouldn't the cops take this seriously? Loud parties and underage drinking.

There is a house with 18-25 year-old men next door (about 5 guys). This is an upscale neighborhood, and the kids are well to do. Damn are they noisy. My husband, the Buddhist, goes over and talks to them in a kind and understanding way. It makes little impact. There are no noise ordinances where we live. A couple of days ago at 2 AM he went over to ask that they turn off the loud music, it almost turned into an altercation.

My husband is very gentle and diplomatic, but these guys do not want anyone telling them what to do. Yesterday we called the cops because of the noise (which literally rocked our house), underage drinking, and drug use. There were OVER ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE of high school age there. The cops said they could not do anything because they did not want to cause a riot and it was just kids having a party.

People in the neighborhood are afraid of making an issue. They do not want to appear intolerant. Any one have suggestions? I am especially concerned cops. In my area they have a reputation for doing too little too late. I live on Maui in Hawaii.
posted by fifilaru to Human Relations (20 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Lobby for a noise ordinance.
posted by kldickson at 2:51 PM on June 7, 2009 [2 favorites]


Ugh, I'm so sorry. This sucks. I don't know if it's a cultural thing (I live on the East Coast, where people are pretty un-shy about sharing their displeasure with their neighbors) but it's not intolerant to want to get a good night's sleep.

The cops are not doing their job. I would just keep calling every time there is a disturbance. If the cops really won't come, then you have to organize with your neighbors (find the ones who are getting fed up) and make a stink as a group. But your husband should not go over there alone. If it's an issue of being physically threatened, then it's an issue for the police.

Also, did you see the question from earlier today? It was almost the same situation and there was lots of good advice there.
posted by lunasol at 2:56 PM on June 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


Publicize it. Call your newspaper and TV stations, especially the ones with reporters who report on regular people's problems with "city hall". Let them know what's going on and how the police are not doing anything about underage drinking.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 2:57 PM on June 7, 2009 [2 favorites]


More about organizing with your neighbors: if the cops won't take this seriously, then try to get together with at least a few other neighbors and contact your local elected official (ie, city council member, mayor, whoever makes laws in your town) and see if they have any interest in working on this issue. They're more likely to take this seriously, since they have to get re-elected and no politician likes to look like they're on the side of rich college kids over good, hardworkin' folk.
posted by lunasol at 3:00 PM on June 7, 2009


Best answer: You might consider talking with either the local police department's chief and then follow up with a conversation with any city council members that represent your area. According to this, there is a noise pollution ordinance for the entire state. You may have to start calling the police very time the volume get too loud or underage parties are going on. Saying they don't want to cause a riot is not an acceptable excuse for the cops to give. In all honesty, are they waiting for EMTs to be called because someone has had way too much to drink? You might also want to discreetly record license plates when these large underage parties are going on.
posted by onhazier at 3:03 PM on June 7, 2009 [2 favorites]


Intolerant? Since you're in Hawaii, is there some kind of locals vs. non thing going on here?
posted by smackfu at 3:05 PM on June 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


Call your elected representative for the jurisdiction that the cops serve. Explain your problem, ask for action.
posted by Ironmouth at 3:15 PM on June 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


The cops don't want to cause a riot, so they are going to turn a blind eye on drug use?

I find that hard to believe. Are you sure there is drug use? Can you document it? Did the cops really say that?

If you can document, and the cops did say that - any reporter in this country would love to have a field day with this info.
posted by Flood at 3:15 PM on June 7, 2009


Response by poster: I find that hard to believe. Are you sure there is drug use? Can you document it? Did the cops really say that?

We have the message the cop left on our answering machine. And we do know what pot smells like. Biggest issue is the drinking and driving. Believe me there was a lot of underage drinking. We could see it from the road.
posted by fifilaru at 3:20 PM on June 7, 2009


Response by poster: Intolerant? Since you're in Hawaii, is there some kind of locals vs. non thing going on here? Could be, but we ARE the locals, and are usually pretty tolerant.
posted by fifilaru at 3:23 PM on June 7, 2009


I'm not sure that smoking pot really counts as "drug use" in our odd, uncertain culture these days... I'd be much more concerned if you saw them chopping lines of powder drugs or found used needles lying around the neighborhood. The chances of a riot of stoned teenagers occurring is about as likely as... oh, look! potato chips!

Regardless, I'd visit local pawn shops and buy a cheap video camera or two. Set one or two up trained on the house and videotape the party. Maybe even crash the place with a small camera and tape what is going on. THEN approach media / cops / etc with your actual hard evidence of underage drinking and drug use.

We would [crash the party and such] if we were 16, but a bit awkward and creepy when you are in your 40s.

Honestly? The group I'm a part of in southern NM has thrown MAMMOTH parties every year for over 20 years now. At this point, it has become more of an annual reunion of adults than a hardcore teenage thrashabout, but our collective mindset hasn't changed. If someone is throwing a loud party in my neighborhood and there has been no effort to communicate to the community surrounding the offending residence that the party will be from Xp.m. to Xp.m., etc etc... then anyone within earshot of the party is within their rights to consider themselves "invited" and should show up and drink and smoke and consume whatever they choose. Having a large, loud party and not being courteous to the residents around you is, at best, rude.

When our party grew to the 500-person-plus range in the mid-90s, we would routinely go door to door and pamphlet cars in the neighborhood around the host house about 2 weeks ahead of time, offering a brief outline of the scope of the party, apologizing for any parking inconvenience created during the night(s) of the fete, and making it clear that anyone within earshot was welcome to attend. We never ONCE have had the cops show up because of an angry midnight phone call. Seriously -- 1 oz. prevention = 1 lb. cure.
posted by hippybear at 3:36 PM on June 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


In the immediate future, making an administrative/political stink looks like your only option. You may want to adjust your expectation of action, but for certain you must start documenting this nuisance by calling 911 or at least a non-emergency police number every time you are disturbed -- say, past 10 p.m.

You should also check to see who the owner of the house is. If it isn't a resident of the building, then contact the landlord and make sure they are aware of the partying and the legal and liability implications of hosting underage drinking parties.

Finally, you might pursue a noise ordinance, but it might be more effective if you look to get a local chronic nuisance ordinance in place. In my city, whose ordinance is now a model for the entire state, a certain number of police calls in a year's time triggers a meeting between the property owner and the chief of police. The owner is expected to mitigate the nuisance. If he cannot (and there are numerous deadlines and grace periods here), the police may issue a letter designating the property as a nuisance, which enables the owner to issue a no-cure eviction with five days' notice. (In some jurisdictions, after this point, a municipal or district attorney will actually handle the eviction proceedings.) It rarely gets to that point, though.

The ordinance was so successful that it was expanded to include code violations.
posted by dhartung at 3:39 PM on June 7, 2009 [1 favorite]


If you do suspect drinking AND driving (underage or otherwise), perhaps contact MADD. They might have an idea or two about your best approach.

I wouldn't consider going over there alone or in small numbers though. I think some the previously mentioned ideas about video recording ( discreetly of course) the activities is a good thing to do. Taking down plate numbers and contacting the police chief also. Ask for any cops name and write that down, times and dates. It may give them something to think about.
posted by Taurid at 4:15 PM on June 7, 2009


Find out who is the watch officer is and who his superior is, write letters to the duty officers superior and the chief noting responding officers names, dates and times and what action his officers took.

You probably have a public advocate in the department who you can reach out to as well. Calling the non emergency number and speaking with the dispatchers and asking the watch commander to swing by if they are in the area to talk to you about it may also work.
posted by iamabot at 4:33 PM on June 7, 2009


Do any of these young men own the house? Often a word to a landlord sorts these things out -- no one likes having a bunch of young drunks trash their place.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:34 PM on June 7, 2009


It's summer, and you mention "a couple of days ago" and "yesterday", not 'for the last few months', so I'm going to guess this is a recent problem. In which case - it's summer, they're kids, leave them be. If it continues to be very annoying (and not just random instances of kids having a good time), however, call the police every single time to report noise nuisance - and the local papers too if the police aren't responding.
posted by goo at 5:28 PM on June 7, 2009


Keep records of when you call, who you speak to, and the response received from the police each time. If they continue to refuse to help, go to the media. They live for stories like this where ordinances are not being enforced.
posted by educatedslacker at 5:46 PM on June 7, 2009


Upscale neighborhood? Police inexplicably ignoring the situation? I'd investigate whether one of the tenants is well connected, e.g. kid of a politician, police chief etc.
posted by aguy at 6:03 PM on June 7, 2009


The cops said they could not do anything because they did not want to cause a riot and it was just kids having a party.

Did you speak with a police officer or a dispatcher? That just does not sound like something a police officer would say. If they did say that, they are definitely not doing their job.

Contact your police department and try to speak with the Chief. If that doesn't work, speak with your city council/selectboard/whatever it is called and get your complaint heard.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 6:55 PM on June 7, 2009


I nth calling the police about a violation of the noise ordinance each times it happens (let someone else worry about the drinking issue--it's the noise that's bothering you, right).

And--I don't think anyone else has suggested this here--you might contact Student Affairs at the university. Many universities these days have a big anti-drinking push which extends to off-campus parties. They technically don't have any control over these students off-campus, but they might be able to do something.

You might also write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper and quote the answering machine message. That'd really embarrass the town and would probably make the police more likely to answer the next call (I would give them a chance to deal with this appropriately first.)

Regarding the underage drinking, which I still think is none of your concern: some cops in college towns do look the other way on this, which can be an informal police so they don't spend all their time busting underage drinking.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:19 AM on June 8, 2009


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