Noisy Parties
Procedures for reporting a loud party:
- In the event of a loud party that is disturbing the peace, call 911. Include the location (address, if known) of the party.
- Provide dispatchers with as much information about the party as possible, including:
- Number of participants
- Dangerous conditions present
- Any crimes, in addition to disturbing the peace, that may be occurring
- Additional information as requested by the dispatcher.
- It is helpful to provide your name, address, and telephone number as a complainant, but, you have the right to remain anonymous when reporting a loud party.
The most common response to a loud party by the police is to attempt to have the responsible person gain control over their party and reduce the noise. The goal is to restore order without having to take law enforcement action, i.e. citation or arrest. However, certain situations dictate that immediate action must be taken to deal with additional violations of the law or to avoid return calls in the future
Officers responding to parties that they feel may result in a return call will fill out a Disturbance Violation Report. This report notifies the person responsible for the party that a return call regarding a disturbance at the location within twelve hours can result in prosecution and liability for the cost of the response.
The following San Jose Municipal Codes explain this further:
10.16.110 Responses to disturbances.
A. No responsible party shall cause, permit or tolerate a disturbance.
B. Whenever a police officer at the scene warns any responsible party present to discontinue the disturbance, the responsible party shall be liable for the actual cost of each subsequent response required for a disturbance within twelve hours of the first response.
C. At the first response, the responding police officer shall give an oral and/or written warning to one or more of the responsible parties present that the disturbance must cease immediately, and that if a second or subsequent response to the disturbance is required within twelve hours following such notice, a response fee shall be charged to any responsible party for all responses after the first response.
D. All responsible parties shall be jointly and severally liable for the response charge regardless of whether or not a responsible party received an oral or written warning pursuant to Section 10.16.110.C. (Ord. 24314.)
10.16.120 Charging for responses.
A. The response charge shall be the actual cost of police services including, but not limited to, personnel and equipment, incurred for each subsequent response within the twelve-hour period following the first response.
B. The bill or charges shall be served by the chief of police upon the responsible party within thirty days after the last response to a disturbance.
C. The total amount of the response charge shall be deemed to be a civil debt to the city and the director of finance may take such action to recover the costs as the city is authorized to do by law for the recovery of a civil debt. The bill of charges shall state the response fee.
D. The bill of charges and any other notices required by this part shall be served upon the responsible party in accordance with Section 1.04.140 of this Code. If the responsible party has no last known business or residence address, then the scene of the disturbance shall be deemed to be the proper address for service of notice.
E. The bill of charges shall include a notice of the right of the person being charged to request a hearing before the appeals hearing board within ten days of service of the bill to dispute the imposition of a response charge or the amount of the charge.(Ord. 24314.)
10.16.130 Hearing before appeals hearing board.
A. Any request for a hearing to dispute the imposition of a response charge or the amount of the charge must be in writing and received by the secretary of the appeals hearing board within ten days of the date of service of the bill of charges.
B. The hearing shall be conducted in conformance with Part 29 of Chapter 2.08 of Title 2 and the rules and regulations of the appeals hearing board.
C. The decision of the appeals hearing board shall be final. (Ord. 24314.)
- If the person reporting the party decides that they want to remain anonymous, San Jose Municipal Code Section 10.16.010 allows for a citation for Disturbing the Peace without requiring a citizen to be a complainant, however, the officer must document the presence of people being disturbed. The procedure outlined above would then be followed.
- If the person reporting the party decides that they want to be a complainant in a criminal action against the person responsible for the party, officers may take action in the form of an arrest or citation for a violation of Penal Code Section 415(2), a misdemeanor.
Do not hesitate to call 911 in the event that a party is getting out of hand and there is imminent danger to life or property.