In October 2022, Longmont City Council approved a sound ordinance that was intended to curb unreasonable vehicle noise. The ordinance states that it is unlawful for a licensed, noncommercial vehicle’s engine, exhaust system or brakes to be audible from 300 feet away. A year later, no citations were recorded in violation of the ordinance, according to the Longmont Police Department.
The 300-foot distance is roughly the length of a football field. Officers must hear excessive noise and determine whether or not the vehicle is at least 300 feet away. According to Police Chief Jeff Satur, it is often hard for people and police officers to determine 300 feet. It is an estimation, he said.
Although officers are trained to judge distance, they are also burdened with providing enough evidence to prove the violation occurred and match it to the correct vehicle.
I was able to ride along with Satur and Ofc. Dave Kennedy to see what an officer experiences while patrolling traffic in Longmont. We were in a police-sanctioned vehicle with the police radio on. We drove up and down Main Street and along a few other Longmont streets to try to find anyone who might be considered loud.
We first noticed that it was hard to hear the general noises of traffic. Kennedy remarked that cars are being built to be more soundproof than ever. The police radio, although turned to a low volumn in our case, also contributed to drowning out the noise of the traffic. At one point, a vehicle with a muffler that was loud enough to hear inside the police car pulled up beside us and then passed by. Satur pointed out that within 50 feet he could no longer hear the muffler of the truck. He admitted that he wouldn’t have considered it all that loud to begin with.
Satur said noise complaints in Longmont grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when people were using the outdoor seating on Main Street to dine. He said he understood that the noise level felt louder because it was next to where people were. He also admitted that it is easier to detect loud vehicles while standing on the street versus driving in a car.
Kennedy, prior to the ordinance’s passing, conducted a test with a certified sound detector. He stood on the street and recorded the sounds of passing cars. He then walked into the surrounding neighborhood to see how far the intense sounds would carry. While each area he measured varied in distance, the police used the data to determine that 300 feet away was far enough to determine that the noise was excessive, he said.
The Longmont Police Department also explored the use of sound cameras in the 300 block of Main Street and on Ninth Avenue just west of Deerwood Drive in Nov. 2022. During this time, the cameras were activated 53 times, 47 of which were on Main Street. According to a study conducted by the Longmont Police Department over two weeks, more than 77,000 cars passed along Main Street.
The problem with the first generation of sound cameras tested was that it could not pinpoint which vehicle was suspected of violating the ordinance, Kennedy said.
The city of Longmont and the police department are looking for new ways to automate some of the police work such as traffic violations. This has been done in other cities and includes setting up cameras that record a vehicle’s speed. If a violation occurs, staff send out a citation in the mail. A similar system could be used in Longmont with sound cameras. A new generation of technology is emerging that would allow police to pinpoint noise violations more easily. However, according to Kennedy, the system would be expensive and would require an increase in staff to manage the citations and information. It could result in a recurring cost of several thousands of dollars annually, Kennedy estimated.
Another contributing factor to the lack of noise violation citations is that the Longmont Police Department suffered significant losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff retired or moved on, Satur said, which put the department in a state of constant training for the last few years.
At any given time, there may be a total of 10-12 officers on duty to cover the entire city which is estimated to have a population of 101,000, Kennedy said. While police are on the lookout for traffic violations they are also responding to other calls such as domestic violence cases (860 as of Oct. 25), 326 DUIs or 4,151 welfare checks, so far this year. These numbers are on top of the 4,464 traffic violations in the city so far this year.
Satur hopes the Longmont community can understand that the police department is trying its best to enforce the noise ordinance, however, there are some challenges that make it difficult.
