An increase in the number of complaints about loud car stereos or ""boom cars"" has prompted the Madison Police Department to start issuing more citations to those disturbing the peace.
Under current Madison General Ordinances, citizens can file a complaint and police may issue a noise violation citation to the owner of a vehicle whose stereo can be heard over 75 feet away.
""In the downtown area, we've received complaints of these loud stereos blaring their music from cars whether they're stationary or driving by certain areas and we're starting to see those complaints reaching to other corridors of the city,"" said MPD spokesperson Mike Hanson.
To help address this problem, police want to give more power to civilians. Madison officer Jean Papalia said neighborhood officers and community police teams are receiving training on how to write citations that concern disturbing the peace.
Papalia said in the past, the only way a citation could be issued for a noise violation was if a police officer happened to personally hear a loud car and wrote the citation. She said the new system allows neighborhood groups to get involved and trains them to report violations to the MPD.
""We simply don't have the resources to assign officers to sit in an area with the hopes that a loud car will go by,"" Papalia said. ""This is the first time we've had something in place that specifically allows us to issue tickets based on citizen complaints because the law speaks specifically to this ordinance.""
According to Papalia, if a citizen prepares such a report and turns it into a traffic officer, the police will investigate and may issue a citation to the vehicle owner within 72 hours. She said the complaint must include license plate number, description of the car, color of the car, where it was operating and the date and time of the incidence.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the problem has become increasingly noticeable, especially downtown. He said some of his constituents and the City Council have pushed for stricter laws on disturbing the peace and noise pollution.
""I have received more complaints than usual in the last year about that issue. Like many other types of noise complaints, it is a quality of life issue and I have passed those complaints on to police,"" Verveer said.
Still, Hanson said that while the police want to crack down on those ""booming"" their car stereos, the challenge lies in disciplining the problem.
""It has been difficult initially because of the inherit mobility of the vehicles,"" Hanson said. ""That's one of the reasons for this additional training and use of the ordinance because now we can have citizens provide us with a violator's license plate and we can issue a citation.""
