Bryan to Enforce Noise Ordinance

By Rob Munson
July 01, 2003

The Bryan Police Department will begin enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on the city's noise ordinance today by giving officers a more powerful role in determining what constitutes unreasonable noise, police officials said.

Bryan Assistant Police Chief Pete Scheets said the city's noise ordinance has not changed. The change is in how police officers will enforce the ordinance. The policy also applies to vehicles.

Previously, Bryan police responded to noise complaints with verbal warnings. "What's a nuisance in one part of town might not be in another," Scheets said. "We're using our officers' reasonable standard, which is based on the community's input through neighborhood meetings." Now, Bryan officers will use their own judgment to determine if a source of noise merits a citation.

"When we got a call in the past and the officer deemed the source unreasonable, the officer would issue a warning," Scheets said. "Now if they deem the noise unreasonable, the officer issues a citation."

Scheets said crushing an aluminum can and dropping it on bare concrete registers 85 decibels, which is considered an unreasonable level in some towns that enforce noise laws. Scheets said decibel meters will not be used by officers to determine if a source of noise is too loud, because readings can be misleading.

"Having bass so loud that it can rattle pictures off the wall might not register at 85 decibels," he said.

Unreasonable noise levels are part of Bryan's nuisance ordinance, which has been in place since December 1975. "Nowadays, we're addressing more and more complaints about the kind of loud music that disturbs people's sleep or disrupts their lives at home or work in some way," Scheets said. "The number of complaints about crime, disorder and decay is dropping."

Scheets said the need for noise control stems from an increase in the number of complaints from Bryan residents.

Last year, Bryan police received roughly 2,350 complaints of noise. To date, approximately 1,110 complaints of loud noise have been reported by residents, Scheets said. Jay Socol, public information officer for the city, said a first offense will be a Class-C misdemeanor, punishable by fine up to $2000. In a statement, Socol said loud bass in a vehicle, loud music at a party and musical instruments at full volume are the primary targets of the noise ordinance.

Jose Pérez, a senior petroleum engineering major and Bryan resident, said the change in enforcing the noise ordinance will be unfair, because some police officers are more lenient than others. "When you are at a party, you really don't know how loud the music is," he said. "It's always nice to have a warning."

Waco and El Paso police, which were consulted by Bryan city officials, use a decibel meter, Scheets said. College Station's noise enforcement methods were looked at but not used when Bryan officials decided to change their policy, Scheets said. Scheets said the hardest part of enforcing a noise ordinance will be moving vehicles. "The object is to make people a little more aware of what time of day it is," Scheets said. "We want them to make a judgment on how loud (noise) needs to be."