READING, Pa. – Reading City Council said during its Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday night that it plans to review and strengthen the city’s current noise ordinance.
At last week’s regular meeting, several residents spoke during public comment about how loud music and parties are being disruptive to their quality of life, and that police have not responded to their concerns.
Councilmembers have also said that they have been receiving numerous complaints from residents of their districts regarding noise issues.
Reading Police Department Deputy Chief Luz Shade explained that often residents believe the police ignore their complaints and do nothing to address the issues.
“The way it works is we do prioritize our calls,” Shade said. “So, of course a shooting, a stabbing and aggravated assault is going to have precedence over a noise call.”
“We understand how the constituent is getting frustrated and saying that we’re not there, but we do show up,” Shade said. “It’s just sometimes the complaint is no longer there, or the complainant is no longer available.”
While residents are permitted to make a compliant anonymously, Shade said that for the police to issue a citation (outside of the police witnessing the noise issue in action), there must be two complainants who are willing to give their names.
Shade said the city’s ordinance could be beefed up, reducing the two identified complainants to one and increasing the citation fine, which is currently a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $1,000.
“For those who are breaking the ordinance, [raising the fine] would actually bring it to their attention and say that we’re serious about this,” Shade said. “Your break the ordinance, and you’re going to be cited, and it’s going to hurt your pocket, ultimately.”
Councilmember Rafael Nunez suggested that the minimum fine for a citation should be $500.
Council President Donna Reed said council will look at trying to strengthen the current ordinance with input from the police and the administration.
“The major part of this is an education outreach,” Reed said. “To me, that’s the whole thing; neighborhood by neighborhood. In those areas where there are strong neighborhoods to reach out, we have to have folks reach out to each other.”