Keeping your neighborhood a quiet place to live

By Cpl. Jeannette Hanes
Keeping your neighborhood a quiet place to live

We all look at our neighborhoods as a place of peace, quiet, and comfort, but every now and then some of our neighbors, or visitors to the neighborhood, can create a nuisance by disturbing our peace with parties and loud music.

 Many of the parties in our neighborhoods involve the consumption of alcohol, which tends to intensify the noise, music, and voices of the party goers. Many times these parties and their associated music and noises carry on into the early hours of the morning which, for those who have to work, have children that attend school the following day and need sleep to insure a quality education.

The loud music can be a real nuisance and a source of aggravation especially if it is a frequent occurrence. The Lemoore Police Department receives a high volume of calls concerning this type of activity.  We wanted to educate our community on the law, what our response will be in a particular situation, and what can ultimately be done to reduce or eliminate these issues so you and your family can get a good night’s rest.

Section 415(3) of the California Penal Code states that, “any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise is guilty of a misdemeanor, which is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than 400 dollars, or both imprisonment and fine.”

 Parties, or just someone playing loud and unreasonable music in general fall within section 415(3) of the California Penal code - as do other types of malicious, loud and unreasonable noises. The Lemoore Police Department, in most every situation, will attempt to gain voluntary compliance from the person responsible for this type of music or noise.

When you call the Lemoore Police Department to report this type of incident, the Dispatcher will get as much information as possible about the incident and ask for your name and address. If you choose to remain anonymous the dispatcher will note in the call. By remaining anonymous the officers responding to your complaint won't be able to contact you to obtain any further details.

They will also be unable to talk with you after they respond to the call to let you know what action was taken. Remaining anonymous is a choice that you make and will not have a significant impact on the call at that point since our primary goal is to obtain voluntary compliance by advising the person of the complaint, the law regarding the particular issue, and that continued violation may result in a criminal complaint being filed against them.

If the issues you are having continue, and compliance is not achieved, then it will be necessary for you to give your name, phone number, and address to the dispatcher so that an officer can personally speak with you about the problem if you wish to seek a criminal complaint against the responsible party or 415(3) of the penal code.

Of course you can choose to still remain anonymous and the officers will respond to issue another warning but without your willingness to be a victim, and, if necessary, testify in court, the officers will be unable to enforce the law and take action. Officers however, will be able to issue a Lemoore Police Department Nuisance document which is essentially a civil demand for payment. Without a victim, a criminal complaint cannot be filed by the Kings County District Attorney's Office.

The Lemoore Police Department is also prepared to address neighborhood issues where parties and loud music are an ongoing problem. In later articles we will address the issue of "problem houses" within a neighborhood not only in regards to loud parties and music.  We, as a police department, will work in partnership with the community to address and eliminate these nuisances in your neighborhood.

There is a myth that many people believe to be true in regards to loud parties or loud music. Many people believe that they can play loud music and have loud parties until 10 p.m. and they cannot be charged with "disturbing the peace" or a violation of 415(3) of the penal code. This is absolutely not true. Penal Code Section 415(3) applies at any time of the day or night. Loud parties at noon are treated the same as loud parties at midnight. If someone is disturbing the peace of you and your neighborhood, and you would like it to stop, contact the Lemoore Police Department through our dispatch number 924-5333 and ask for an officer to respond to your complaint. You can call the Lemoore Police Department during business hours at 924-9574 if you have any questions about this article or the law relating to the issues talked about. You can also, via e-mail, contact Corporal Jeannette Hanes at jeannette.hanes@lemoorepd.com or Sgt Jim Chaney at jim.chaney@lemoorepd.com.

On a side note, the Lemoore Police Department will be sponsoring an event title "Coffee with a Cop" in the month of November. Check out the Lemoore Police Department's Facebook Page for more details about this new upcoming event.

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