Anyone ever call the cops on their neighbors for being loud?

[rdawson808]

Yes, if you live in a bad area where the cops have better things to do, they won't care.

But to say that every cop will think you're the problem is just plain wrong on Dewey's part. Sorry. I live in a really nice part of DC so I'm sure the policing is a bit slower around here, but the cops were more than happy to bust a bunch of underage drinkers, in my case. I bet the cops would be happy to bust a pot dealer too.

If you can hang on until summer, that may be the best, just because of your proximity. But if it happens multiple times per week (per month in my book) and it's after midnight, call the damned cops.

By the way, how many cops are there in your town that they were all away on a homicide call. If every cop in DC responded to every homicide call, there'd be no cops left to do anything else.


b

 

[ms244]

Town is about 85K, not sure about how many cops are there.

I live next to a big state school. Its a good area, mostly college students live here. One of the reasons I like this place is I can walk to campus and not bother with parking every morning. Its also pretty cheap.

All the other tenants are nice and respectful, these people though...................

 

[rdawson808]

Have you talked to the other tenants and whether they are disturbed too? If so, and they are, just make the rounds with one person calling every time it happens. Then there are multiple complaints, not just you looking crazy.

b

 

[Dewey]

It's most definitely not your fault these guys are jerks.

I've only lived in "bad areas" and college towns, too, FWIW. It must be true that other places would be different. And who knows what any given cop will do.

 

[romafan]

Originally Posted by iammatt

My neighbors have called on eachother. It is always kind of comical. The cops in the neighborhood said that the number one call they get is neighbor noise and they don't really do anything about it.

As a San Franciscan, I'm wondering if you have you ever heard the "Shut Up Little Man!" tapes/CD? While you're may be too mature to enjoy this, these recordings of two drunken roomates, Raymond and Peter, were made by their understandably nervous neighbors - originally intended as evidence for when the inevitable attack/murder happened, they are good for a giggle....

http://members.aol.com/leesausage/History/index.html

"We were introduced to the saga of Peter and Raymond when we moved next door to them in the fall of 1987. As neighbors, we lived in the same Pepto-Bismol-colored apartment building in San Francisco's Lower Haight. The building was designed like a cheap motel, so that the apartments were sardined alongside one another and separated by thin walls.

Within a week of our arrival, we were exposed to what would become a dependable routine form our next door neighbors: evenings charged with belligerent rants, hateful harangues, drunken soliloquies, death threats, and the sound of wrestling bodies thumping against the wall that separated our apartments. Peter and Raymond fought with a raging abandon and total disregard for everyone in the building. Initially, we were angered by the volume and recurrence of the arguments, but equally we were intimidated by the threatening content. Whenever we got angry enough to go next door, confront them and ask them to keep the noise down, we were forced to give the idea a second thought. Perched in their front window, facing the walkway greeting all who dared pass, was a human skull; what horror would greet us?" However, one can be meek and tolerant for only so long. Unnerved by sleepless nights and Peter's incessant refrain, "Shut Up Little Man" one of us banged on their door, only to receive the first of many murderous death threaths from Ray. "I'm perfectly willing to kill anyone that thinks they're tough. I was a killer before you were born, I'll be a killer after you're dead." Soon thereafter the notion of recording their threats -- in case of the need for criminal proof of an assault -- was born.

The first crudely recorded "session" featured a monologue by Ray muttering to himself about his desire to kill. There was something so nakedly sinister about the recording that we were shocked, mystified. At the same time, it instilled in us a hunger for more. We invested in the technology for crisper recordings (we bought a cheap microphone from Radio Shack) and fell into our own obsessive routine of taping. Eventually, our desire for capturing fresh dialogue led us to employ phone prank tactics (listen to "I Was a Mean Muthafucka in Ma Time" and "Nova Express Survey on Alcoholism"). The material that we successfully taped was deliciously dark and incredibly infectious. Day in, Day out, we rehearsed Raymond and Peter's dialogues; their phraseology and curious logic became our own. After several months of taping, we became Peter and Ray (though we certainly don't condone gay-bashing or senseless murder).

Our recording was not as secretive as one might suspect. Several times during their extended shouting matches we placed a speaker on the walkway outside their door and subjected them to the tyranny of their own taped voices. At some point in the process, we recorded Peter saying, "The neighbors are taping us again," to which Ray responded, "Good. Hey, next door! I want to tell the whole world that Peter ain't nothing but a lyin', thievin', *************." [Well, Ray, these recordings are your chance!] Clearly invasion of privacy is an issue here, but as our friend Seymour Glass once said, "You have to wonder how much right to privacy a person who's screaming at the top of his lungs expects."

It should be noted that neither Pete nor Ray worked. They drank. They watched TV. They fought. They rarely left the house, except to go to O'Looney's convenience store for liquor or to Walgreen's for smokes. There were frequent visits from the San Francisco Police Department, the Fire Department, and Paramedic teams. Sometimes they spent the night in jail, sometimes in the hospital. To make matters more interesting, Tony -- a Southern-bred Vietnam vet and white trash drifter -- moved in and out of their apartment during the time we lived next door. In many ways he was the scariest of the three, recalling a movie extra from Deliverance. Tony provided the catalyst for more fighting, new jealousies, and shifting alliances. We are frequently asked about the exact nature of Raymond and Peter's relationship, but can provide no definitive answer. It remained opaque to us. It is clear, however, that they fought with a penetrating hate that can only be Love.

Peter and Raymond have already assumed legendary status among our friends, families, the police, and the subterranean network of tape traders. This CD will only serve to further propagate the gospel of Pete and Ray, and perhaps will change the face of hatred and self-loathing forever. As a compilation of their best rants, it provides an excellent insight into the themes that constituted their very lives: booze, killing, fisticuffs, thievery, the SFPD, Tony, homosexuality, hospitals, hatred, and corned beef hash.

It is a curious pleasure to have one's private obsession become public domain, as is the case for us concerning these recordings. We are certain that you will find them as darkly comic and compelling as we do."

 

[ms244]

My neighbors are nowhere as interesting as this. Mostly all I hear is harking their lungs out and screaming. No witty or amusing dialog to profit from.

 

[gnatty8]

No but when I was in college I had them called on me plenty of times. We were loud mofos, but c'mon, who lives in a student ghetto unless they are a student.

 

[ms244]

These guys aren't students. And if they are they should be studying at 2am on Tuesday not partying.

I think the landlord must have told them something, they've been quiet these last few days.

 

[FidelCashflow]

Stop snitching.

 

[sjmin209]

In theory, at least, your landlord is responsible for maintaining order in the place, especially if you've raised the issue before. Documenting your communication with him is important if you think that the noise is bad enough that you might want to try to get out of your lease.

As for your neighbors, you said you've been nice with them so far. Maybe it's time to be less nice--still polite, but very direct. Talk to them when they're not stoned, and explain that you've tried to work it out with them like an adult, and that if their behavior continues to be a problem, you'll call the cops. Every time. You can even hint that you know that they have real reasons for not wanting the cops to show up at all hours of the night.

Of course, if you really think they're dealing, you can always let the cops know that as well. Cops tend to respond to drugs and guns.

 

[ms244]

I think the landlord must have set them straight, its been eerily quiet for the last couple of days.

Maybe it worked itself out?

 

[gnatty8]

Or maybe they're tied up planning their next Monday night kegger...

 

[65535]

...

 

[Dewey]

Originally Posted by ms244

I think the landlord must have set them straight, its been eerily quiet for the last couple of days. Maybe it worked itself out?
That's what I remember. It's never as bad as it seems when it's night after night or four nights a week for two weeks straight. There just aren't that many people like Pete and Ray. They will act up again before you are rid of them, for sure, but you will get stretches of peace too. Also, if they are down there, huffing large quantities of weed, it's guaranteed that one of them is "dealing" much the way that some of our favorite posters "deal" here in the B&S forum. At some point the heavy user realizes he can smoke for free if he's willing to advance the large sum of money needed to buy in quantity to supply all his friends. The cops know this. And it should not be surprising if they are not gung-ho to raid noise violators in hopes of finding a guy with four quarter-ounce bags in his cargo pants.

 

[Holstein Bilter]

My neighbor LOVES techno music. He loves it at HIGH VOLUME.
I've walked over to his front door about a half dozen times
and always gives me the "can you hear that?" sheepish response.

I told him that I actually LIKE his music, but the BASS thump can
get annoying at night.

He turns it down SLIGHTLY..so the animals don't cry..but it's still loud.

I may have to knock again.