Saturday, April 13, 2013

How To Make A Noise Complaint In El Paso Texas

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El Paso County Sheriff Noise Complaints   915-546-2280
Do not call 911. 911 is for emergency only. 
     This site will show you exactly how to lodge a noise complaint that will result in shutting down the noise maker. We will also show you what to  do when the cops refuse to enforce the law.
       I have had two people cited and convicted in my neighborhood. Once you have someone cited and the word gets around your neighborhood, it quiets down real fast for about a year or so. Once the police understand you are serious and won't back down, they will be more responsive. Once you have someone cited and convicted, the Sheriff, the Assistant DA and the Judge are easier to work with.

FIRST!! Speak with you local Magistrate or Justice of the Peace Judge, show the judge the complete law, explain your problem and ask if she will enforce this law. Also, speak with your local Assistant District Attorney who handles the cases in your area. Show her the law and ask if she will enforce this law. They will. But it is best, that when you call the police, you can tell them, "My Justice of the Peace will support me on this."
        BUT........you MUST be willing to go to court as a witness against the offender. IF NOT, you are just wasting your time and the time of the police, the DA and the Judge. They won't like that.

THE LAW:
TEXAS PENAL CODE   http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.42.htm
TITLE 9. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
CHAPTER 42. DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RELATED OFFENSES
Sec. 42.01.  DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a)
A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly: (5)  makes unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local Government Code, or in or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy;
Sec. 42.01.DISORDERLY CONDUCT 11 (c)  For purposes of this section:
(2)  a noise is presumed to be unreasonable if the noise exceeds a decibel level of 85 after the person making the noise receives notice from a magistrate or peace officer that the noise is a public nuisance.
The ONLY entity exempted from this law is Shooting Ranges. Parties,factories, schools, churches, trucks, sports games and every other action is illegal if it goes over 85 decibels. But, have a little common sense. Don't start complaining for stupid stuff. If a noise is really bothering you, yes report it. Loud noise has a variety of hazards to your health.
IF THE NOISE MAKER IS TOLD A SECOND, IT IS TICKET TIME!
NOW IT GETS GOOFY: What is 85 decibels? 85 decibels is a diesel truck, a motorcycle or a lawnmower. A hair dryer puts out 70 decibels. Normal speech is 50-65 decibels. A power saw is 110 decibels. A boom box is 120 decibels. A rock concert is 110-140 decibels.
If you can hear the noise across the street, it is 85 decibels or more.
NOW IT GETS STUPID: Cops will tell you that they need a decibel meter to test the sound. This is not true. There is nowhere in the code that says sound must be measured with a decibel meter. Common sense should be enough. Common sense is enough for a reasonable police officer and a Justice of the Peace.
Then the cop will tell you he needs to measure the sound from where you are hearing it, or to be a really great guy, he'll measure it from your property line. This will NEVER get an accurate reading. If a stereo is blasting out 110 decibels and you take a meter reading from 20 feet away, you will only see 70 decibels on the meter. and the deputy will tell you he is "sorry, but there is nothing I can do." And if you are ignorant of the law and how to judge decibels, he'll get away with fooling you.
Based on their logic, you can park in front of the Sheriff's Department with a huge Boom Box, crank it up to 120 decibels, blow out every cop's eardrum in the building and he can't make you turn it off. But when I suggested doing just that to them, they threatened to arrest me.
COPS LIE:
When a deputy tells you that El Paso County has no Noise Ordinances, he is telling the truth. Just ask him if he enforces the Texas Penal Code and he will say that he does. Then tell him to look at :       TITLE 9. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND DECENCY
CHAPTER 42. DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND RELATED OFFENSES
Sec. 42.01.  DISORDERLY CONDUCT. (a)

Excuses from Deputies are: "Gee, I don't hear anything.....Doesn't sound that loud to me........People have a "Right" to have a party...........The law is for noise after 10pm......The law is for noise after Midnight........Well, what if you wanted to have a party with your friends?.....I hear it 1/2 mile away, it's loud, but I'm not telling them to turn it down.......I don't have a decibel meter....Give it a break, it's Mother's day, Christmas, News Years, Cinco de Mayo, Mexican Independence, Semana Santa(insert bullshit holiday here_________)....It's just a party for kids, you don't like kids??........The laws says to measure decibels at your location(no it doesn't)....We don't have a Noise Ordinance in the County(yes we do, it's called Texas Penal Code).......The guy's working on his house......If they don't turn it off by 10pm give us a call and we'll come back(and tell me what??)...oh yeah, I remember............."The Deputies are on another call, they'll get to you in a few hours".....
And my personal favorite, when I ask a Deputy why he doesn't want to tell the noise makers to quiet down, "Because I don't have to."
             I have been asked many times, "Well gee.......you're the only one who complains. Why do you think that is?"   "Golly....that's a tough one officer..........let's see....1. Maybe because 50% of the people here are illegal aliens? 2. People are afraid of the criminals coming after them for complaining? 3. They know the kind of crap reasons the Deputies come up with to not handle their complaint? 4. The Deputies are more insulting and disturbing than the loud music? 5. Some of the people here have existing warrants on them?" And maybe I complained once because, shame on me, in a break of the loud music, some guy screamed out on a sound system 1/2 mile away, "Chinga tu America" (Fuck you America) and then his lady friend screams out that she adored her "Racists". The Deputy who responded told them to turn it off at 10pm, then at 10:20pm when they didn't turn it off, then he came back and he told them to turn it off at Midnight and they still didn't. Then he lied to me and his Sergeant about it. I stood in the street in front of the house, screaming at 5 cops to tell them to turn it off. Once the people heard me screaming at them, they turned it off and ran inside.
WHAT TO DO WHEN THE COPS REFUSE TO ENFORCE THE LAW
The easiest thing to do, is to just call dispatch again and ask to speak with the sergeant on duty. If dispatch asks why, tell them you're dealing with a deputy who refuses to enforce the law. Then tell the sergeant the same thing. Be polite to the sergeant. He has no idea what your problem is. Once you explain the problem, that you're familiar with measuring decibel levels, you're familiar with Title 9 Disorderly Conduct, 9 times out of 10, that will stop the noise.
If they still refuse, you may have a case of "Official Oppression" against them.
They're a little touchy about that. El Paso deputies have been arrested for Oppression.

TITLE 8. OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER 39. ABUSE OF OFFICE

Sec. 39.03.  OFFICIAL OPPRESSION. (a) A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he:
(2)  intentionally denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, knowing his conduct is unlawful;  or
Under the Texas Constitution, you have a right to peaceful enjoyment of your property.           
Nobody has a constitutional right to disturb their neighbors. You also have a right to make a complaint against someone abusing your rights or has committed a crime against you.
If you have a legitimate noise complaint, based on the above and a cop refuses to enforce the written law, he is Officially Oppressing your rights and you can have them arrested, just as with any other common criminal.
KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS
Take notes of the responding officer's name and badge number. Ask them for a business card. Make a note of the address, time and date of the noise. Even if your 2nd complaint is a year later, they have been warned and they should be given a citation.
Make the deputy give the noise maker a written warning. Otherwise, when you call for a 2nd complaint, they will "forget" you complained once before.

Final Note: Sheriff Wiles is very receptive to helping you with problems. If you feel you need to speak with him, call and make an appointment. When you do see him, try to respect that his time is very limited and make your point as fast as you can. If Sheriff Wiles wants to bring his assistant, Bill Ellis into the discussion, politely tell the Sheriff that you would rather keep the discussion between you and him. When I got stuck with Bill Ellis in the discussion, he tossed up every cockeyed BS excuse he could dream up, on why NOT to shut down concert level music noise. A simple 10 minutes discussion turned into 30 minutes of arguing with an idiot. But, that's lawyers for you.

35 comments:

  1. What Neighborhood is this in? I don't want to move near loud families

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  2. If you don't want to live near loud neighbors, move to the wilderness. Noise is a problem all over America. If your neighborhood is quiet, it is probably because your neighbors have had the noise maker's arrested.

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  3. does it say anywhere in the code where the officer should be measuring the noise from?

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    1. No, the code does not specify where to measure the noise. Standard common sense should tell you to measure it right at the source. Decibel meters do not pick up decibels from very far away. A stereo can be blasting so lund that it is coming in your house from a mile away. If you measure the decibels at the source, you may get 100-120 decibels. BUT, if you stand 30 feet away, you'll have a hard time reading 85 decibels.
      THE PROBLEM IS THE COPS. THEY LIE and REFUSE TO ENFORCE THE LAW.
      Your best option now is to file your own criminal complaint at your local JP Court. Problem there is, most of the judges and workers are so damn ignorant, they don't know a private citizen can file his own criminal complaint. They think only police can do it.
      I belive that the Sheriff's department refuses to enforce the law because once it is enforced the culprit and all his frineds will stop doing it, which will decrease calls to the Sheriff. So the only resaon I can figure as to why they refuse to enforce the law is so they can go to the County or another money source and say, "SEE!!!! WE"RE GETTING HUNDREDS OF CALLS!! WE NEED MORE MONEY!!!!!

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  4. Hello,This is very nice article having wonderful & beneficial information for us.
    we buy homes el paso

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  5. THANK YOU. The !! LOUD !!!! $#@%!!! "electronic BASS "concert" in the fall is an example of this. Horrible LOUD gut-wrenching BOOMS, like bombs going off got no response from the Sheriff. The EPPD is usually good but they said "it wasn't their jurisdiction. Same with concerts from that red GIANT SWASTIKA in Juarez.

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  6. My neighborhood is pretty quiet. Was wondering, how early can lawn machines, blowers, etc be used in a residential area? I had heard none of this type of noise can be earlier than 7 AM.

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  7. My neighborhood blows. Every weekend the neighborhood drunk plays music from 12 to 9. I call cops about five times a day and cops don't do anything.

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  8. I agree this is a very touchy law!! But on the enforcement side there are a number of issues that make enforcement very very hard one being;
    (5) makes unreasonable noise in a public place other than a sport shooting range, as defined by Section 250.001, Local Government Code, or in or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy.
    Many COUNTY ATTORNEY'S and courts look at section 5 and if the person as the right to be at the home then there is no offense.
    Another issue is the 85 dB issue . The law is so vague that it may be illegal to mow your yard. most mowers are over 100 dB. Again the courts have ruled in favor of the defendants.
    Good Luck. The state laws need to be re-looked at to enable law enforcement.

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  9. Thank god they dont care cuz my car is for sure pass that 85 lol

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  10. Thank god they dont care cuz my car is for sure pass that 85 lol

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  11. And it's because of asshole like the guy that comment on October 2, that all these audio systems places should be shut down....no one wants to hear your stupid ass music. Please do society a favor a turn your radio as loud as you can and blow ur damn ears out!!!

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  12. Wish there was a law that if your music can be heard from outside your car, the cops could pull you over and have you destroy your own system...only in low class society do people worry about the system in their cars or the size of rims their cars are "rockin". Why don't you spend that money on an education or put it towards your 401k....or better yet, why not fix your car properly....have the stupid ass sounds system you see are install in crap ass cars that aren't worth anything to begin with....

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  13. Dealing with the same issue, we have neighbors that play their music every weekend, we have contacted the police many times but as of today they haven't issued a citation. I have also contacted the PAR officer in my area and nothing, all they told me to do was to keep a log and submit it to the DA. I guess legal action might be my last resource. Any opinions/advice?

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    1. Believe me, Iam going through the same crap at montana vista area!!!!!!!!!

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  14. Everyday I listen to my neighbors music so loud in my house that it shakes my walls. I finally stepped outside to see who it was and he was sitting in his driveway with his windows down in his truck blasting his bass. He turned it down I said thank you and as soon as I walked away he turned it back up and continued it for another 15 minutes. Everyday at least 3-4 times a day I have to listen to my walls shake and I have a baby. Sleep is important and I'm tired of it constantly being interrupted

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  15. Does this also work in the lower valley in el paso?

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  16. Okay, so what about ridiculous, bitter neighbors who call the cops almost weekly on us? We sit outside and cookout with a simple stereo. I know it is not too loud because we have an autistic child who scares with loud noises so we are cautious of that; but nonetheless, the cops get called. It has gotten so bad, that yesterday the police came by to say that there was a new complaint about a screaming child. Once he saw that my son had special needs, he said to me that he understood, but still just use common sense. We are seriously feeling harassed. Is there any recourse for us?

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  17. People have no respect nowadays. People do work weekends. People do have little children. And all this BOOM BOOM gets annoying after a while. My opinion is if its a residential house/ apartment be respectful of your neighborhood. The NE is the worst!!

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  18. Here in Socorro if you live next to the house that I live, two jerks that don't give a shit whether it's loud or not or what time of day or night will blast their shit songs and Hoot and Holler!! >:(They will play their shit until the cops arrive!!!

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  19. What about dog noise? Neighbors complain about my dog barking loud and excessively. Im listening and other dogs that are barking nearby get his attention. Other than that, he doesn't bark. A neighbor behind me has a German shepherd that can see over my wall and loves to taunt him. How is that fair to me and my dogs?

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  20. Bla bla bla, I can't wait till your sleeping baby growes up & wants to be in a band. I am 100% behind my son's band & yes they do play loud. But they are practicing for there giggs. They are not out drinking & doing drugs. My across the street neighbors play that stupid mexican crap loud on the radio & i have never called the cops on them, but last weekend one of my fucking neighbors called the cops on us, wow what balls you have. Well guess what i have invested in a decible reader & they play at 80 decibles, so next time the cops come around i have proof that its ok to play your music in the comfort of your own home at 80 decibles.

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  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  22. How god daam early can they start blasting ??? I can hear it all tje way inside my room and my baby cant sleep ??

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  23. How god daam early can they start blasting ??? I can hear it all tje way inside my room and my baby cant sleep ??

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  24. I'm having this problem right now. I called the police twice. Once at 1:30 am and the next at 3:30 am. I wake up at 5 am to work. They blast their radio on their porch! They actually did karaoke the other night, OUTSIDE!

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  25. ACCCCCCKKKK!!!!! THE NEIGHBORS DOGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED TO ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AND SERVICES CAME OUT TO TALK TO THEM BUT THE DOG OWNERS STILL WONT SHUT THEIR DOGS UP. AT 5AM THE DOGS ARE LET OUT AND BARK NONSTOP. IM ABOUT TO GO CRAZY. WHAT ELSE IS THERE BESIDES GIVING THE DOGS BENEDRYL LACED MEAT???

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  26. Don't know where you folks were in March, but here in July the same thing in my hood. Dogs barking all night long. I came back to EP six months ago from DFW after 20 plus years. Laws in those places Enforced not swept away. Grow Up El Paso!!!
    Proper Pet Laws and Enforcement would solve both issues.
    Joel T.

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  27. East side neighborhood off of Geo. Dieter and Bob Mitchell. Stupid neighbors just bought the house behind ours and they decide to take out their kareoke machine at 2:30am because their drunk and they think no one else works or needs to sleep. Every other weekend these morons do this. Yell and scream and sing horribly. And of course another idiot neighbor builds a damned bandstand behind his house and has a commercial grade sound system that can be heard for three blocks because the prick thinks the entire neighborhood should listen to his norteƱas and rigaton music! And yet the cops do nothing! I work weekends and this gets tiring, so when the morons behind us are asleep and hung over the next day, I make sure to blast the lawnmower or my stereo loud enough to make sure they hear me. They’ve even come
    To the back door to see who or what is making all the noise but it’s freaking 7:30 and I can make as much noise as I want to! Stupid a-holes....

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  28. My neighbors music is too loud, his kids are loud outside,man what a bunch of b!tches yall looking for peace and quite plug something in your or move out of city-big boii

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  29. I f you have a dog problem no one really cares make a complaint with the form animal services gives you, if you are lucky it will take one year to get to court(only a handful of cases are accepted each year).
    I was told if they are found guilty they will be fined around 200.00 if the dog persist you will have to file again which will take another year.

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  30. I just moved to El Paso Texas from California and wish the stupid ass real estate Lady would have told me that there is no Noise Ordinance here which is the stupidest thing I have heard. The idiots behind me just moved in and always blast their music and I called the police and said they can’t do anything but got lucky as they came out 3 nights in a row. I told the Sheriff it’s stupid as I’m a disabled veteran and take medication and my daughter goes to work at 5 in the morning and it’s already 3:30 am. I advised him that people need to sleep and some get up early to go to work. I told them that this ordinance needs to be changed. Where I come from they have quiet hours starting at 10 pm but if it’s disturbing anyone you can call the police or sheriff at any time.
    Please El Paso change your stupid ordinance to include quiet hours so I and others can sleep.

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  31. I see a lot of racists comments in this page. I been around the world several times and I can tell you that this is a nation wide problem specially within the city limits, in some countries you just don't hear anything but maybe a cow or a sheep. If you live in the city don't expect anything but foking noise pollution. I don't care if you are white, black, Hispanic,martian or whatever. The only recommendation is to move the fok out because this guys are not going any foking where. I have called the cops a millions foking times since I retired here, but back then it was a lot quieter, now I got foking roosters, dogs, loud music, loud cars, yeah I'm having the time of my life. I'm about to pack my shit and move to the foking forest and hope that deers and bears don't fok with me. Again don't need to be a racist about shit, if you don't like it move the fok out!

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  32. Only way to beat a noise maker is to get a even louder sound system and wake their ass up early morning and play it late at night or all day like they do. Get a loud car wake their ass up even more.....cops dont do shit and talking to your neighbors dont help so its eye for an eye.

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  33. I hear you, and giving the politicians a chance to fix this sheet I'll see if is OK to start a noise war!

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