Local police have decided to crack down on noise violations around campus in response to complaints from neighborhood residents and would now be willing to arrest an entire household of residents under certain circumstances, but no arrests have been made thus far this academic year.

Andrew Solberg, Metropolitan Police Department’s Second District commander, said that whereas in the past, citations have been issued, party hosts could now potentially be arrested for noise violations. He said that all residents of a particular house would be considered hosts.

“It depends on the circumstances,” he said.

Solberg said MPD would not arrest all guests in a house found to be in violation of the city’s noise laws.

There have been no arrests this academic year for violations of the noise law, but Solberg said that a number of parties have been broken up because of noise violations.

MPD keeps a record of houses that frequently violate the noise ordinances, and Solberg said there are currently 15 houses in West Georgetown and Burleith on that list.

“It seems like people have been very well-behaved since we made the foray into the neighborhood two weekends ago,” Solberg said.

Under the District of Columbia Noise Control Act of 1977, noise levels in residential areas are limited to 55 decibels from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., and 60 decibels at other times.

Violators of the ordinance may be verbally warned, fined up to $300 or arrested and imprisoned for up to 10 days.

Solberg said the noise ordinance comes into effect when there is enough noise that it is “disturbing the peace.” He cited banging a drum in a backyard or alley at 3 a.m. and shouting too loudly as examples of violations of the ordinance.

MPD’s arrests could be considered unconstitutional if officers arrested residents of the house who are not responsible for breaking the noise ordinance, according to Arthur Spitzer, a legal director at the American Civil Liberty Union’s D.C. office.

Noise violation laws “have to be enforced properly,” Spitzer said, adding that if someone was arrested when he or she did not break the law, the person would have grounds for a lawsuit.

But Douglas Reed, an associate professor in government department who teaches Constitutional Law, said that MPD’s policies appear legal.

“Arrests for noise violations generally are not unconstitutional, unless they are for a constitutionally protected activity like political speech or religious speech,” Reed said.

“Controlling noise has long been recognized as a legitimate exercise of the police power.”

Michael Meshay (MSB ’10) said he does not think the noise ordinance laws are unreasonable. “It is not unreasonable to keep peace and quiet in a residential neighborhood,” he said.

But Alexander Stein (COL ’08), who lives in an off-campus townhouse in Burleith, said that he thinks that the new police policies are overreaching.

“A noise violation is based on common sense,” he said. He added that keeping a list of problematic houses is “archaic.”