Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Administrators Issue Noise Warning Email

Students from a neighboring D.C. university were arrested last week by Metropolitan Police for violating the district’s noise ordinance, according to an email sent to Alumni Square and townhouse residents Thursday evening by Hall Director Viraj Patel.

The Office of Off Campus Student Life was tipped off about the arrests by a Metropolitan Police Department source. Though Patel confirmed that students who were arrested were not affiliated with Georgetown, they live in Police Service Area 206, which includes the Georgetown campus.

“As you look forward to …. Halloween festivities this weekend, … we wanted you to be aware that D.C. police are enforcing nighttime noise laws, and these laws should be taken seriously,” Patel wrote in the email.

The Disorderly Conduct Amendment Act of 2010, signed by Mayor Vincent Gray on Jan. 19, 2011, went into effect on Feb. 2, 2011. The ordinance prohibits D.C. residents from making “unreasonably loud noise” between 10 p.m. and 7 p.m. Violators of the law can be fined up to $500 or face up to 90 days in prison.

According to Rocco DelMonaco, vice president for public safety, the university notified students in hopes that they would adjust their noise levels for the weekend with the ordinance in mind.

“We want students to be aware that [Metro] Police are enforcing D.C.’s nighttime noise laws,” he wrote in an email. “In proactively educating our students about this law, we hope to prevent incidents where [Metro] Police become involved and hope to help keep noise levels down in residential areas.”

The law has sparked controversy since its inception with critics calling the language of the statute too vague allowing police subjectivity to be the sole determinant of whether or not a person is arrested.

DC Students Speak, an organization that advocates for the 85,000 college students in the District, said that while the law should be followed, it should be more fully defined.

“A law that is on the books is a law that should be respected and adhered to fully and at all times. That being said, the new amended noise ordinance is too vague and results in a waste of valuable D.C. police resources,” Communications Director Jason Gerson (COL ’14) said.

Hoya Staff Writer Mariah Byrne contributed to this report.

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