Students can avoid noise violations with planning

Off-campus students face a heavy penalty for noise violations, including a fine of up to $2,500 and up to one year in prison.

If students know they will be having a party or a loud event, they can call the HPD and register their party. This offers the students a sort of warning — if someone calls to complain about the noise at a house which has been registered, the police then call the house and let them know there has been a complaint. If, however, a second call is made to complain, officers then are sent to the scene to assess the situation.

"The biggest problem in the off-campus JMU community is over consumption of alcohol, which goes hand-in-hand with noise problems," said Sgt. Shane Brown of the Harrisonburg Police Department.
Brown said a citizen must call the police and enter a complaint about a noise problem for police to intervene.

The only other way is if an officer is driving, walking or biking by and hears something from the road.

These are the only ways police get involved with "unreasonably loud" residencies.

Any student who receives a noise ordinance can be prosecuted with a Class Four Misdemeanor, according to Brown. The penalty for this type of misdemeanor is a maximum fine of $250.

Nevertheless, if the problem includes other violations, it can be treated as a common misdemeanor, with a possibility of a fine as much as $2,500 and up to one year in jail.

Although there are strict laws for noise violations, officers try to work with students to educate them about the growing problem. "Rumors say that the officers have an adversary relationship with students, but that’s not true," Brown said. "We really do work in order to give students the benefit of the doubt."