We all want peace especially when we are trying to think about important things. While in your home, you wouldn’t be happy about noise in your neighborhood, whether it’s a noisy neighbor or vehicles that make disturbing sounds.
It is against the law to cause noises disturbing the serenity of the neighborhood. This is why residents can file noise complaints to the police when they can’t bear the noise anymore. But in some cases, the police don’t show up even when citizens complain about the noise, why?
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Can the Police Refuse to Respond to Noise Complaints?
The police can not refuse to respond to noise complaints because it’s their duty to maintain law and order in society.
Excessive noise is not orderly and it disrupts a lot of activities. So, refusing to respond to a noise complaint is more like they are neglecting their duty. If they don’t respond, then it means something came up.
What Can Make the Police Refuse to Respond to Noise Complaints?
Below are reasons why police can refuse to respond to noise complaints:
1. Priority
When the police are performing their duties, they pay attention to important issues that need their attention first.
The emergency situation comes first, so you don’t have to think that they refused to respond to a noise complaint. Noise complaints generally are not on their top list and especially if there’s no one to attend to the matter.
2. Diversion
Due to having many issues at hand, they can be diverted from the call about the noise complaint to the emergency issue.
For example, while a policeman was dropping your call about the noise complaint, a call should come through about a crime somewhere. The attention has been diverted
3. Limited Hands
When there are lots of issues to attend to, the police might have limited hands to come to respond to the noise complaint.
You would be surprised that after hours you called to make the complaint, they’ll be calling back to ask if the issue is still ongoing telling you that there was no one to attend to the complaint.
Therefore, how fast police respond to noise complaints depends on the three reasons explained above.
What To Do if Police are Not Responding to Noise Complaints?
Here are things to do if police are not responding to your noise complaints:
1. Speak to the Neighbour
This should actually be the first thing to do before calling the police. Speak with the neighbor about the noise.
If the neighbor’s stereo is always blasting around 2 am, explain to him how the noise affects you and the neighborhood. Meanwhile, legally, your neighbor is not supposed to play loud music after 11 pm.
If your neighbor is understanding, there would be a change. But if your neighbor is adamant and doesn’t change, then you can go on with the next step.
2. File a lawsuit
You can file a nuisance lawsuit against your neighbor. All you have to do is prove that the noise is excessive and disruptive. You can also file a lawsuit against the noisy neighbor if there are no rules guiding noise in your area.
To have the evidence you need to prove the neighbor is noisy and have a phone you use to capture everything happening.
Be ready to prove in court that the noise affects you and the area. You should also be able to prove that you’ve spoken to the neighbor but he/she refused.
3. Get a Mediator
You can get someone to help talk to your neighbor about his loud music. If possible, get someone he/she can listen to. If for example, your neighbor is a young man, you can decide to inform his parents/guardian about the constant playing of loud music when he/she should not, maybe he/she will listen and affect the change immediately.
If the person is an adult and you don’t know their parents, you could talk to his/her church priest, friends, etc.
Benefits of Filing Noise Complaints to the Police
The main benefit of filing noise complaints to the police is “order”. When people see the police at their doorsteps, they tend to curb the noise except for people that will still continue the noise even after the police leave.
The stubborn neighbor can be fined if the police return again for the same noise complaint.
Disadvantages of Making Noise Complaints to the Police
- Late Response: This is actually very common. The police have priorities, so many times, noise complaints are down the list; and even when the police want to attend to the complaints, there might be limited hands. Also, it is possible the person that picked up the call forgot about the complaint while trying to attend to another complaint.
- Noncompliance: There are still some neighbors that wouldn’t listen even when the police come to ask them to control their noise. They’ll go back to creating a nuisance after the police leave. For these neighbors, you can file a lawsuit for a nuisance.
Final Thoughts
Excessive noise is not allowed by the law so you can report it to the police. But when the police don’t respond, you don’t have to give up. There are still other steps to take to curb the noise and have the serene environment you have wanted.
