Noise complaints in neighborhood expected to rise as holidays near
Noise complaints during September and October have increased since 2000. Police attribute some of them to a lack of communication between students and neighbors.
By Jill meninger
Staff Reporter

The good news for Fort Worth police officers and neighbors of TCU students is that Homecoming is over. The bad news is that Halloween is on the way, which means noise complaints are expected to rise.

Jamie Johnson, a Fort Worth police officer, said the number of noise complaints rises during all of the major holidays, class recesses and university events.

According to information provided by the Fort Worth police department, there were 12 disturbance calls made from the neighborhoods surrounding TCU from Oct. 1 until Oct. 13. The calls were on the late night and early morning shifts on Thursday and Saturday. Johnson said many of these noise complaints in October were because of Homecoming festivities.

According to the police information, September and October have had the highest number of noise complaints over the last three years. Complaints also rose from 31 in September 2000 to 51 in 2002. For October 2000, there were 27 complaints compared to 48 last year. This year, as of Oct. 13, the area had 28. Overall, 2001 has had a record 394 noise complaints — the highest of the three years.

Mark Gann, a resident on Rogers Road, has called the police about students who live next-door to him. He said they made efforts to warn him about upcoming parties when they first moved there in August, but he said he has not heard from them since their first party.

Gann said they have had two parties a week on average since recruitment started, but after Homecoming he said they have not had as many.

“I’ve almost called the police many times,” he said.

Gann said the next step he plans on taking is calling the owner of the home who, he said, is the father of one of the residents. Gann said he will call the father if the problems continue.

However, some neighbors, including David Perez, a resident of Rashti Court, do not find the students to be a problem. He said the four students who live across the street have parties once in a while.

“I don’t look down upon (partying),” he said.

Perez said the neighbors are well-mannered and notify him of any upcoming parties.

Johnson said he attributes some of the problems with a lack of communication between the students and their neighbors. He said if better communication existed, the police would not be receiving as many phone calls. Residents of the rental property also change every semester, he said, which makes it difficult for the neighbors to get to know the students.

Gann said he has a problem with the parties when he cannot watch television because of the noise. Gann also dislikes when the street is filled with trash the next day.

“It’s when they show no respect for the neighborhood that I have a problem,” he said.

Jill Meninger
j.m.meninger@tcu.edu