Fairfield Police Issue Statement On Enforcement Of Noise Violations

FAIRFIELD, CT — During Monday's Representative Town Meeting, several RTM members expressed a desire to hear from Fairfield police about proposed changes to the town's noise ordinance, and on Tuesday, the department responded.

In a statement to Patch, Chief Robert Kalamaras gave a breakdown of how the department handles noise complaints. He also said that while the department appreciates the effort to amend the ordinance, the proposed changes were "not driven by the needs" of the department.

Proponents of the ordinance changes claim that as currently written, the ordinance relies too heavily on using a sound meter to determine noise violations, and the regulations do not address noise during daytime hours, among other things.

Some RTM members want the police department to weigh in on the proposal, and Kalamaras and the co-sponsors of the amendments said that the department has been responsive to questions.

"The Fairfield Police Department has been responsive to requests for comment and contributions to the RTM’s noise ordinance committee," Kalamaras said. "It is important for the community to understand that the police department falls under the executive branch of government; our responsibility is to enforce the laws, not create them, and should refrain from influencing the legislative branch. Nevertheless, we also understand that those charged with writing legislation need guidance on how police officers operate when applying these ordinances."

Noise complaints occur throughout Fairfield, but many are generated in the beach area, which has a lot of rental housing frequented by students from Fairfield and Sacred Heart universities.

Some RTM members were uneasy about making changes to the ordinance, when they perceived much of the noise problem coming from the beach area; roughly 40 percent of noise complaints in the past year came from the beach area, according to research from the RTM.

"While we genuinely appreciate the committee’s requests for input, the revisions to the ordinance are not driven by the needs of the police department," Kalamaras said. "The Fairfield Police Department currently enforces noise violations under the Connecticut State Statutes of Creating a Public Disturbance, Breach of Peace, and Disorderly Conduct. These statutes are sufficient to allow officers to make reasonable decisions when they respond to complaints of noise, and remain consistent with responses from all other departments throughout the State of Connecticut."

Kalamaras added, "Police input to the noise ordinance committee has been aimed at ensuring police operations do not drastically change from current practices and processes should the noise ordinance pass, and, to ensure a level of reasonableness can be applied town-wide. With that said, the Fairfield Police Department will continue to enforce noise violations utilizing the clear language of the State violations previously listed."

The RTM's Legislation and Administration Committee is expected to review the proposed noise ordinance changes, and the issue is slated for more discussion at the RTM's March 27 meeting.