Ghiz on Loud Car Stereos
The question was from Walter Lynge in Northside regarding "boom car thugs" and why we haven't addressed loud car stereos.
Tomorrow, after a few months of research and with help from College Hill and Westwood residents, I am introducing a loud car stereo ordinance that enhances our current noise ordinance. It allows the police to fine someone and ultimately impound their car if the car has a loud stereo. The first offense is a $250 fine, the second a $350 fine, and the third a $500 fine and impoundment of the car. The law mirrors Cleveland, Chicago and St. Louis. Last year, about 575 citations for noise were issued. 42 of those were second offenses and 12 were thrid offenses.
Citizens deserve to enjoy their homes and neighborhood in a quiet and civil manner. Hopefully adding some teeth to the current noise ordinance will do away with many of the repeat violators.
posted by Leslie Ghiz at 8:27 PM
9 Comments:
at 8:57 PM, October 22, 2007 
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at 7:43 AM, October 23, 2007 
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at 2:42 PM, October 23, 2007 
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at 5:17 PM, October 23, 2007 
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at 1:49 PM, October 24, 2007 
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at 7:51 PM, October 24, 2007 
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at 11:07 AM, October 25, 2007 
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at 12:35 PM, April 09, 2008 
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at 2:29 AM, June 09, 2008 
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Post a Comment*.
What ?
We can't hear you ?
Did you say you were going to cut your council salary by $32,000 ?
"LIAR, LIAR", pants on Fire !
Did you donate that extra $32,000 to keep the pools and clinics open ?
WHY NOT ?
Who can believe anything you say ?
PATHETIC PHONY !
VOTE NO, on the 'fanatical five' !
When this Ordinance passes, please send District 3 Police around the neighborhoods to have them enforce the loud stereo problem. Here are some streets ... Harrison Avenue, Werk Road, Boudinot Avenue, Hildreth, Glenmore Avenue, Hanna Avenue (especially going in and out of Mayridge Apartments), Pickbury, etc. So yes, there is a definite problem and THANK YOU, Council Member Leslie Ghiz for attempting to fix it. We will be supporting and voting for you!
How is this to be enforced? And how will this help if the police have to actually hear the stereo themselves, as the current law is written? There are cars going up and down our street at all hours of the day and night violating the current law, and I am told nothing can be done unless the police actually hear the stereo. I appreciate the effort of Ms. Ghiz. I just hope this law has some teeth to it.
We are disturbed all hours of the night by these loud car stereos. I don't believe Ghiz for a second. This isn't a new problem there have been loud car stereos for a long time now. What is she going to sit out and stop this physically herself? If so why has she not fixed this problem yet? What are you waiting for Ghiz?
The Leslie Ghiz proposal for a new loud car stereo ordinance is an excellent first step. I hope it is passed by the council without being watered down. However, there are a couple of problems referred to by previous posters :
First, It is necessary that the police enforce the ordinance. I have brought the boom car issue up many times at Northside community council meetings and have been told by the police that they consider this a low priority matter and do not put much emphasis on it. Apparently they get this message from the top and use it as an excuse to ignore boom car violators most of the time. I have personally witnessed this on many occasions. The numbers also demonstrate it dramatically: In Madison, Wisconsin, a city which is cracking down on boom car violators, police are writing BOOM CAR citations at the rate of one every day per officer, while in Cincinnati, the comparable number is one NOISE citation every 671 days per officer (using Lelie Ghiz's figure of 575 noise violations last year and 1057 officers- from the police web site). Jeff Berding proposed that some of the increased revenue from the fines of the proposed ordinances should go to the Safe And Clean Neighborhoods Fund. Perhaps some of it could also be used for some kind of incentive program to get police to buy into enforcing the law with zero-tolerance.
Another problem is the following: A typical situation is that the police get a noise complaint about a loud stereo from a house, a barking dog, or a boom car. They drive by and report that they heard nothing and can therefore take no action. The reason is that the dog was tired and was taking a break, or the loud music offender was changing the CD during the 30 seconds that the officer drove by. Yet according to the language of the noise laws, a violation did take place. The sound emanating from the motor vehicle was " of such intensity and duration" as to "cause inconvenience and annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities." The dog owner was harboring an " animal of the dog kind which by a loud and frequent or persistent barking or yelping" did "cause serious annoyance or disturbance to the neighborhood." The law does not specify that the officer had to have heard the barking or loud music during the 30 seconds that he was driving by. These laws should be amended to specify that the criterion for deciding whether people were seriously annoyed or disturbed, and therefore a citation should be written, is that they called in a complaint to the police, or that the police received a certain number of complaints during a certain time period. That should be sufficient. W.L.
Why should we believe the Leslie Ghiz proposal for a new loud car stereo ordinance. She has had a long time to do this while she was serving on council this time but yet nothing was done. Oh......I see, if we get suckered into voting for you agian THEN you will take care of this. Sure you will Leslie. We're not falling for you're lies anymore.
I agree with the previous writer now that you are up for re-election I will make a noise ordinance. I think time could be better spent dealing with the street corners where drugs run rapid! I do not know where noise has killed anyone but as we see everyday drugs and drug violence does. If this is all you have to offer please do us all a favor and withdraw from the election.
I praise the new ordinance .Thank You. Now! when will the Police Dept. start enforcing it especially in East Westwood and North Fairmount? There is a house on Harkness that has several visitors Boom thumping , including the resident male gangsta , who are up and down all hours rattling the windows in the neighborhood. Please silence these noise mongers. Help would be appreciated.
Why can't they just be charged for assaulting people and/or destroying our property? If I walk up to my door and slam my fist onto it, the windows might rattle a little for a fraction of a second. If a "boom car" comes down the street, every window in the building is humming for several seconds. If I walk up and violently shake someone back and forth several inches, how is that different than me being shaken a fraction of an inch down to my bones hundreds of times while they creep past?
During a 10 minute drive, a 1,000 watt stereo puts out as much energy as about 300 assault rifle bullets being fired off.
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