Tacoma needs tougher policy on boom crews
KATHLEEN MERRYMAN; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Pete Rewak is my kinda guy.
I’ve never met the Loraine, Ohio, municipal court officer, but I have a photo of him from the city’s Morning Journal. He’s taking a sledgehammer to a $600 boom-boom car stereo system.
The person who owned that system got caught once using his big bass speakers to rattle other people’s windows. He got a $300 fine and a fair warning that if he re-offended, he’d pay $400 and forfeit his sound system.
He boomed again anyway, and got caught. Now all he has of his sound system is a clipping of Rewak smashing it.
It’s quieter in Loraine since the ordinance went into effect, the paper reports. That’s lovely. But the city’s missing a natural revenue stream. I’d pay for a turn at the sledgehammer.
So would Judy Smith.
Smith, who lives in Fern Hill, called to say she’s happy the City of Tacoma is cleaning up dumped junk. But how, she asked, can she get it to clear out the audible junk?
Cars with jumbo bass sound systems have been prowling Fern Hill. She’s seen the people in them stop, get out, and urinate on her yard. They laugh at anyone who complains. People are afraid of them.
That’s exactly what they want.
Annoying other people makes them feel like big men instead of pathetic losers.
If you haven’t been stuck in traffic near one of these rolling insults to the peace, then you don’t get out much.
Don’t engage them, my husband says. It might be taken as road rage.
Damn straight.
If I had my way, if I were quick on the CD, I’d blast them with the Grand March from “Aida” until their coarsened eardrums cracked under the assault of an actual melody.
But that would be wrong.
And illegal.
Tacoma’s noise ordinance makes it a misdemeanor to play a car stereo loud enough to be heard, or felt, 50 feet away. Fines start at $500. They rise with each repeat offense, to $1,000, plus the possibility of 90 days in jail.
That’s great, as long as there’s an on-duty police officer on hand.
When boom twerps took over sections of Ruston Way a few years ago, Tacoma police responded with enforcement that calmed the noise with fines. Sgt. Pete Habib was part of that, and repeats the drill when needed.
“We put a pretty good emphasis on it for the first two to four weeks of the summer,” Habib said. “Zero tolerance. Not many warnings.”
The effort has other advantages. Once an officer asks for license, insurance and registration, the noise stops can find pop-up bonus bad guy results.
That’s good for the waterfront, but doesn’t do much for Fern Hill, or even for Habib’s own neighborhood when he’s off duty.
“It’s assaulting the eardrums, and most of it is offensive,” he said of the noise boomers bring. “Your windows literally rock. I want to shut the car off and go over, but that’s the kind of thing that will get somebody jammed up.”
Better, he said, to drop back, write down a description of the driver, the license and make of the car, its location and direction and call the police nonemergency number, 253-798-4721. Any available officer in the neighborhood will respond.
But what about the jerks who live up the block?
Get the neighbors on the case, Habib said. Get license plate numbers and, if possible, the boom boy’s address and the times he generally shakes the windows. Armed with that, police can pay a knock-and-talk visit, or lie in wait to catch the guy.
Habib would like to do more.
“I’d like to change the laws,” he said. “I guess people understand the dollar. I’d like larger fines right off the top, and the ability to remove the equipment from the car.”
He’d like to know how Loraine, Ohio, gets away with smashing stereos. I’ll get him a copy of the ordinance.
If Tacoma can put that on the books, I’ll donate the sledgehammer.
Kathleen Merryman: 253-597-8677
kathleen.merryman@thenewstribune.com
