Woo Proposes Hosts Pay for Police Calls to Wild Parties

“Party animals, beware!” Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Woo warned Wednesday as he proposed forcing the hosts of loud and unruly gatherings to pay the city if police respond more than once to quell disturbances.

Under an ordinance Woo advocated, party-givers would receive a warning if police consider the festivities noisy. If the party continues in full swing and police must return a second time, the host will be sent a bill for police costs.

Woo left the amount of the “loud party service fee” to be worked out by the City Council and Mayor Tom Bradley, whose approval is required for it to become law. A number of other Southern California cities that have enacted similar ordinances charge up to $500 when police must respond a second time to a loud party.

A similar ordinance was enacted last week in San Fernando, with the fee tied to the number of officers who must respond, plus a charge for administration.

Woo said he decided to propose the law after residents in his Studio City district complained to him about suffering through a “raucous all-nighter.”

Teen-Agers Block Street

At the party, which was held at a residence last month, several hundred teen-agers spilled onto the street, blocked traffic and got into fights, police said. Most units in the Police Department’s North Hollywood Division had to respond.

Throughout the San Fernando Valley, complaints of loud parties “present a significant strain” on police resources, particularly on weekends, said Capt. Charles Dinse, commanding officer of North Hollywood Division.

Woo’s ordinance would apply only to parties considered to be among the worst offenders. “These aren’t your average lively get-togethers,” he said. “These are the kinds of parties that go on all night and sometimes erupt in violence. Many of them are ‘flyer parties,’ where teen-agers have papered an area with flyers announcing a party when their parents are away.”

Police Chief Daryl F. Gates supports the proposed law because it would reduce the amount of time officers spend responding to complaints about loud parties, a police spokesman said. Complaints about loud parties account for up to 20% of calls on some nights, especially weekends, the spokesman said.

“We hope this will be a deterrent for hosts, who will actually have to pay for the police time they’re wasting, as well as facing arrest and fines for breaking existing noise ordinances,” Woo said at a City Hall news conference. “Police in other cities say once hosts realize how much their party could cost them, things quiet down quite a bit.”

Officers can now arrest revelers for disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and 6 months in jail. “When you have that, you pit neighbor against neighbor, and many people don’t want to go to court and testify against a neighbor,” said Capt. Noel Cunningham, commanding officer of the Police Department’s Northeast Division.

Woo compared enforcement of the proposed law to the way the city bills security system owners for unnecessary police trips. Those responsible should pay the costs, he said.

Woo’s proposal calls for an ordinance similar to ones in Fullerton and Palos Verdes Estates.

In Palos Verdes Estates, police issue a warning the first time they are summoned to a loud party. The second time, they not only break up the party but present a bill to the host. Hosts are charged $1.25 a minute for police time, and the clock runs from the time the first call comes in until the final report is written.

Police Lt. Ed Jaakola of Palos Verdes Estates could not say how many bills have been sent out since the law went into effect in February. But, he said, the law has cut in half the number of times police have had to go back to a party.

“The intent was to just quit tying up police cars breaking up parties,” he said. “It’s been very effective in that respect.”

The proposal, introduced at Wednesday’s council meeting, was referred to the council’s Police Committee for study.