The city of Grand Forks is taking another look at a party ordinance that classifies unreasonably loud gatherings as Class B misdemeanors.
Danny Weigel, a Grand Forks City Council member and UND police officer, said the updates he's proposing would address his department's inability to fully enforce the city ordinance by decriminalizing noisy parties on first offense and instead imposing a fine of no less than $300.
"The UND Police Department can't cite the city ordinance because of the fact it is a criminal offense," Weigel said. "All they can cite is anything that's non-criminal and nothing that's against state law but might be a city ordinance."
During a council discussion of the ordinance this week, Weigel and City Council member Katie Dachtler both said they've received complaints regarding this jurisdictional issue from constituents in the neighborhoods surrounding the UND campus.
"When you look at it, it could be 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. in the morning on a Friday night. The city of Grand Forks, or its police, are busy. You've got people who have private residences in that area, and they become frustrated, because you have to sit there and wait-whether it's two minutes or 20 minutes, you never know."
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Decriminalizing noisy parties on the first offense also would give violators a second chance to correct their behavior without building a criminal record.
"I think some people look at it as you're decriminalizing it, so you're saving some 18- or 19-year-old's record," Weigel said. "But if they get a second one in one year it goes to a B misdemeanor, because obviously they didn't learn their lesson at that time."
On Monday, Weigel compared noisy parties to prostitution charges and DUI charges, both of which are harsher examples of a Class B misdemeanor, adding he's "not sure sure that's where it should be."
"Those are on one end of the spectrum," said Lt. Derik Zimmel, of the Grand Forks Police Department. "The other end of the spectrum is someone stumbles out of a bar and urinates on a dumpster. Class B misdemeanors cover a fairly wide gamut of offenses, because it's a fairly common offense (and) it's the lowest classification of offense."
According to Zimmel, Grand Forks officers don't automatically issue a citation when first approaching a noisy party.
"The typical approach to a noisy party complaint is, number one, officers aren't out with the windows rolled down, listening for music so they can go interact with people," Zimmel said.
The process actually begins with a neighbor or someone nearby calling to report someone being loud. Dispatchers then alert the police, and Zimmel said they'll typically inform an officer whether it's the department's first time responding to a noise complaint at a residence.
"If it's the first time, unless it's out of control, the standard response is a warning," Zimmel said. "If people absolutely refuse to leave, they can be cited as well for failure to disperse."
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Typically, officers don't issue a citation until their second time responding, Zimmel said.
In 2018, Zimmel said Grand Forks Police responded to 561 calls for service associated with loud gatherings. That led to about 30 filed reports. There were ultimately only 19 citations issued.
There had been roughly 340 citations issued in 2009 for unreasonable noisy and loud gatherings, according to the 2018 Grand Forks Police Department Annual Report. Over the last decade that number has plummeted with not only the criminal ordinance but also a three-strikes program formed by City Inspections in 2006, along with education efforts between landlords and tenants.
"There's been a drop in the noisy party issue," Weigel said, using that as yet another reason to update the ordinance. "It's gone down considerably, every single year."
Weigel said he'll continue gathering input from students, residents and law enforcement before having the city attorney draft an ordinance. The council eventually will have to consider the ordinance updates twice and hold two public hearings before approving any changes.
