I've been surfing all over the net for official info on what my city's noise ordinance actually is. So far, I've found nothing but old news articles from my local paper, written about bars and night clubs getting in trouble for violating it. Guess I must admit, that while I have good luck in finding all sorts of unexpected goodies while surfing the internet, I am not very good at finding what I'm actually looking for.

*sigh*

This is a 'how-to' article, pertaining to inconsiderate neighbors who blast their music. Lately, I've been having difficulty with my neighbors doing just that. It suggests calling the police, only when all else fails. I'm assuming that the advice to talk it out with your neighbors first, doesn't apply to when they're drug addicts who resolve disputes amongst themselves by stabbing each other with scissors.

Regardless of whether or not your neighbors are dangerous, I don't see why any law abiding citizen should have to inconvenience themselves with confronting their neighbors in person if they are breaking the law. As adults, it is their responsibility to make sure that they obey the city's noise ordinance. Not your's. It is the responsibility of the police to uphold the law, if it is being broken. Not your's.

The article suggests that the police will have more "sympathy" for your situation if you try to handle it on your own, first.

Sympathy?

In my opinion, whether or not the police feel any sympathy for me, when my neighbors are breaking the law in a manner that negatively affects me, is irrelevant. It's not a police officer's job to have sympathy for me. It's their job to enforce the law. That's why they're called
LAW ENFORCEMENT!

Most police officers will tell you not to try to uphold the law yourself. What I'm writing isn't a criticism of the cops. It's a criticism of not only the article, but of one's belief that they have the right to disobey the law. A couple nights ago, I called the police at 3am when my neighbor was blasting music so loud that my apartment was vibrating. She probably would have gotten away with a warning, if she hadn't yelled at, threatened, and refused to show her identification to the cop who arrived at her door. He took her to the police station and gave her a citation. When she returned an hour or so later, she was furious. Proceeded to knock on almost every door in the building (at 4am), demanding all who answered to tell her if they were the one's who reported her. Taking no responsibility for herself, she blamed only whoever turned her in. That article reminds me of her. Implying that someone other than my neighbor, should be responsible for controlling her actions.