Report Excessive Noise – Providence Noise Project

Active noise (heard now) • Recurrent noise (known source)

Excessive noise is first and foremost a public-health issue. And like any other threat to community health, Providence should seek to address noise proactively — i.e., try to prevent (or at least reduce) it in advance, instead of waiting until after residents have been exposed to it, and may (or may not) report it, so that the city may (or may not) try to address it.¹ No other public-health threat is handled this way.

And the best way to prevent noise is to deter the relatively small cohort of people who generate most of it — i.e., repeat offenders (including businesses) — who are well known to police and other city officials, yet rarely receive citations or other enforcement action for recurrent and highly predictable violations.

Why even have noise ordinances (and send police to supposedly enforce them) if they mostly just tell those who persistently and deliberately make excessive noise not to do so? Citations are intended to deter recurrent violations that pose an ongoing threat to public health. Forcing residents to endure it week after week and month after month is not “community policing” or an effective, sustainable response.

To compel the city to effectively address repeat noise offenders, residents must report noise. This also creates a record of complaints that the city is legally required to retain and release to the public as official documents. See below for Noise Project suggestions on the best ways to report various noise sources.

Report “Active” Noise (i.e., excessive sound levels you hear right now)

If you‘re currently being exposed to sound levels that seem to exceed legal limits, the city’s passive response to noise has clearly failed to deter it — and gives you only two choices: 1) endure or 2) report it.

Providence offers residents only one option for reporting “active” noise: Calling the police.² CLICK HERE for the Noise Project’s recommended procedure for reporting excessive noise to the police.

NOTE: If you know the source of the noise (including its location), it repeatedly generates noise, and you and / or others have reported it to city officials before, read below about reporting recurrent noise.

Report “Recurrent” Noise (i.e., from a previous source)

One way to prevent excessive noise is to deter recurrent and deliberate sources — the relatively small number of known “repeat offenders” responsible for most of the noise in the city — from generating even more. But for reasons that aren’t clear, Providence officials who claim to want to reduce noise seem unwilling to discourage recidivists from continuing to violate city sound ordinances.

Unfortunately, most excessive noise in Providence is from recurrent sources — including transient ones such as motor vehicles — and residents repeatedly exposed to it in their homes and public spaces are frustrated that they have little recourse other than to report it every time it occurs. And since doing so generally does little to actually reduce noise levels, most get discouraged and give up.

Despite Providence’s demonstrable failure to deter recurrent noise, the Noise Project recommends that residents report it to the police as it’s occurring — if only to document a record of repeat violations, ongoing city failures to address them, and specific data on the sources themselves. We also suggest a series of more comprehensive actions on recurrent noise listed below.

Scroll down below through the city’s convoluted noise-response bureaucracy to try to find the most appropriate point of contact for your specific situation — starting with the municipal agencies that the mayor controls, which are responsible for enforcing local and state noise laws and implementing city policies. If you e-mail a city agency about noise, we recommend cc’ing your City Council member and us.³

Contacts for reporting recurrent noise:

Mayor’s office • Police district commanders • PVD 311 • City Council • Board of Licenses

The Mayor’s Executive Branch Agencies

MAYOR BRETT SMILEY (until January 2027) — The noise should stop here
E-mail: mayor@providenceri.gov
Mayor‘s office contact page: www.providenceri.gov/mayor/mayors-office-contact-us
Phone: (401) 421-2489
Mayor’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/PVDMayor (@PVDMayor)
Official PVD Twitter account: https://twitter.com/CityofProv (@CityofProv)

The mayor is Providence’s chief executive officer and is responsible for making sure the city implements its laws and policies — including noise limits. (Moreover, Mayor Smiley’s 2022 election campaign emphasized the need to reduce excessive and unhealthy noise in the city, and voters elected him at least partly on that basis.) Thus, residents can and should hold him accountable for noise levels in Providence.⁴

The city’s executive-branch officials and employees — including the police and other agencies listed below — all work for and answer to the mayor for their response (or lack thereof) to the thousands of noise ordinance violations every year, and resident complaints about those infractions.⁵

So when city officials either ignore its noise laws or are ineffective in enforcing them, and the mayor allows that to continue without rectifying it, that means they’re essentially doing what he wants, and he should be judged on the outcome. Use the contact information above to let him know you want the city to act to prevent excessive noise, including enforcement to deter noise-ordinance violations.

City Agencies

PROVIDENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT — Responsible for enforcing city and state laws that regulate sources of noise

Police Chief: Oscar Perez (appointed by Mayor Smiley)
E-mail: operez@providenceri.gov
Non-Emergency Phone: (401) 272-3121 — Use this number (not 911) to report noise
PVD Police Twitter account: @ProvidenceRIPD

The Noise Project does not advocate the use of armed police officers to address excessive noise, but successive Providence mayors and City Council members (including supposed progressives) clearly do — it’s been city policy for decades, which the current Council members could change (or even just discuss) if they wanted to. So far, none of them has formally proposed even partial civilian enforcement, much less introduced an ordinance to enact it.⁶ Most seem to prefer de facto non-enforcement.

Until the city implements alternative proposals for reducing excessive sound levels, PVD residents must either endure unhealthy noise or report it to the police.⁷ Reporting noise doesn’t guarantee it will be addressed effectively, but not reporting it ensures that it won’t be — and that the relatively small number of people who make most of the noise in the city will continue to have impunity to do so.

REPORT EXCESSIVE NOISE TO THE POLICE

Call the Providence Police Department’s non-emergency phone number: (401) 272-3121 (not 911). If possible, try to provide the civilian dispatcher with a specific street address for the source of the noise or as close as possible, so the responding officers can find it — and so the location of the source is part of the complaint and any subsequent report.⁸

(We’ve also heard that asking the dispatcher to have patrol officers speak to you on-site may encourage a more thorough response. We are working to verify this.)

If the dispatcher’s response to your report is unsatisfactory, ask to speak to the officer in charge. If you still don’t get a satisfactory response, ask for the officer in charge of the patrol division. If their response is still not satisfactory, call Chief Perez or Deputy Chief Timothy O’Hara during a weekday at (401) 243-6109 or e-mail their secretary at amcginn@providenceri.gov.

Police contacts for reporting more specific recurrent noise sources

District commanders (https://ppd.providenceri.gov/find-your-local-police-station/) — If you are exposed to recurring noise from an ‘identified’ source such as a specific house / building, vehicle, or outdoor location and reporting it to the non-emergency number hasn’t significantly reduced it over multiple occasions, use the link above to identify which of PVD’s nine police districts (not City Council wards) the noise source is in, then contact the lieutenant in command of that district to ask them to address a known noise source that is an ongoing problem. That is the district commander’s job (see below), and may garner additional attention and resources.

Providence Police claims that its district command-structure “enables police officers to be more accessible and responsive to the citizens in their district. Each lieutenant is responsible for developing a crime-fighting strategy that is specific to the unique issues that are prevalent in his / her respective district.” Ask your district commander to explain their strategy to reducing noise.

Thus, neither they nor any patrol officers under their command should ever tell residents there’s nothing they can do about excessive noise. It’s literally their job to find a way to address it — and their bosses’ job to evaluate those strategies to determine how effective they are, and fix any flaws.
ATV Community Response Team — A special unit established to address illegal off-road vehicles on city streets. If you provide them with a location where ATVs are stored or routinely congregate, the city says it will confiscate them. (If you alert them to ATVs and they don’t act, please contact us.)
E-mail: ATVtips@ProvidenceRI.gov [E-mail them and cc’ing the Noise Project info@ address]
Phone: (401) 680-8288 (680-8ATV)
License Enforcement Unit — Enforces regulations related to commercial licenses (see the Board of Licenses below), especially entertainment licenses required to play amplified music.⁹
Commander: Sergeant Vincent Sollitto
E-mail: vsollitto@ProvidenceRI.gov
Traffic Bureau — Among other things, the Traffic Bureau includes the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) Unit, and is responsible for transmitting vehicle-related citations such as non-compliant exhausts to the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal and / or municipal court.
Phone: (401) 243-6279

Non-hazardous equipment violations such as modified mufflers can be enforced by either a verbal warning, a requirement to have it inspected, and / or a citation. If you are recurrently exposed to excessive noise from trucks and other commercial vehicles, especially from specific ones you can identify (e.g., license plate), you should report it to PVD311. If the problem persists, ask the lieutenant in command of your police district to contact the Traffic Bureau.
Public Housing Unit (PHU) — See Providence Housing Authority below.
Community Engagement Bureau — Mayor Smiley changed the bureau’s title from “Community Relations” to “Engagement.” It’s not clear how this has affected its role or scope.
Webpage: https://ppd.providenceri.gov/community-engagement-bureau/
Director: Michael Stephens (a holdover from the Elorza administration retained by Smiley)
E-mail: mstephens@providenceri.gov
Phone: (401) 680-5320

It’s worth noting that Providence Police are often touted (including by themselves) for a law-enforcement strategy known as “community policing,” which they describe as having three components: partnership, prevention, and problem-solving. The Noise Project supports all three of those things — especially preventing excessive noise — and seeks to achieve them.

Yet PVD Police has never asked to partner with us (or any other group that we’re aware of) to address noise, though it’s the single most-frequent complaint they receive. And residents can hear for themselves whether the police have succeeded in pro-actively preventing noise — rather than just responding to noise reports after the fact — or in solving the problem of repeat offenders, who are the primary source of excessive, unhealthy, and illegal noise in the city.

Civilian agencies for reporting specific / recurrent noise sources

Contrary to popular belief, Providence Police is not the only city agency that enforces noise
limits. Below are a list of civilian agencies that also have a role in reducing recurrent noise.

PVD 311 (Mayor’s Center for City Services / MCCS)

Webpage: https://311.providenceri.gov
E-mail: PVD311@ProvidenceRI.gov
Social media: @PVD311 / Instagram
Phone: 311 or (401) 421-2489 Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. only (see note below)

Providence’s 311 system was updated in March 2025, but was never designed to adequately address reports of excessive noise that require a timely response (i.e., measured in minutes rather than days): It is not staffed in the evening or on weekends, and can take a day or more to transfer a report to the police or other city department, who may not address it quickly themselves.

The online PVD311 form itself tells residents they should call Providence Police directly to report “active” noise (i.e., happening now) — and to only use 311 as a way to “document” noise: In other words, to create an official record that the city was notified about excessive noise from a residence or business (e.g., entertainment venues, garbage collection), and it must act to stop it from recurring.

If you provide your e-mail address, 311 will send a response to your noise report stating that it is “not able to dispatch [police] officers” to address the noise — and instead sends resident(s) of the source property and the property owner (if different) a notification about the noise ordinance.

Noise Project suggestions for using PVD311

We recommend using the 311 website or e-mailing PVD311@ProvidenceRI.gov rather than calling, so you can submit your report in your own words and retain a record of the content.¹⁰ You don’t have to create an account on PVD311 to submit a report, unless you want to use the city’s website to track how your report is handled, and you can use a pseudonym or ‘disposable’ e-mail address.

The most important component of your report is the address of the noise source (or as close as you can identify it). If you send an e-mail, make the subject clear — such as “Excessive noise at [source type and location: house / business / city property address or approximate location] on [date].” Save any additional details for the text of the e-mail itself (see below).

To document recurrent noise, residents should describe the frequency of violations (how often it happens) — including specific dates and / or typical days of the week and times of day, the dates and case numbers of any previous reports to the police or 311 about the same source, and any results (or lack of them) from those earlier reports.¹¹ Repeat offenders should be treated as such.

The updated PVD 311 form eliminated two specific noise sources: fireworks, and trash / recycling vendors operating too early (before 7:00 a.m.). This will likely reduce the number of both reports to the city, because some residents who used 311 to report those sources are not willing to call the police about them — especially excessively early garbage collection, which most residents don’t consider criminal behavior (but should).¹² The city rarely enforces its own waste-collection contract.

BOARD OF LICENSES — Responsible for regulating noise from the 8,000+ commercial sources it issues licenses to each year, including 400+ liquor licenses to bars / clubs / restaurants, and enforcing local ordinances and state laws that regulate such establishments.

Chair: Adewole Akinbi
Board members: Peter Mancini (vice chair), Erlin Rogel, Tiana Ochoa, Tania Quezada
Staff: Jose Giusti, license administrator*
Louis DeSimone, Board attorney
Webpage: https://www.providenceri.gov/board-of-licenses/
Phone: (401) 421-7740, ext. 5206 / 5207
E-mail: licensing@providenceri.gov (If you e-mail the License Board, please “cc” the Noise Project’s info@ e-mail address so we can track your complaint)

* The Board previously included a staff position with the title “Director of Licensing“ that may have lapsed.

ART, CULTURE, and TOURISM (ACT) — Responsible for the initial components of permits for events on public property, such as streets, public parks, and school grounds. If you’re exposed to excessive noise (e.g., over-amplified music) from such an event, e-mail ACT and please “cc” the Noise Project’s info@ address.
Webpage: https://www.providenceri.gov/art-culture-tourism/
Director: Joe Wilson Jr.
E-mail: jwilsonjr@providenceri.gov
Phone: (401) 680-5770
Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/ProvidenceACT

OFFICE OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS — It’s website says it “actively engages Providence residents, business owners, and community members” to “build trust” and “work with them shaping the future of our city,” but we have no idea what it actually does on a daily basis, and former director Anthony Aquino never responded to any of the e-mails we sent him. Its previous functions seem to have been dispersed among other offices and agencies.

Webpage: https://www.providenceri.gov/community-relations/
Director: [TBD]
E-mail: communityrelations@ProvidenceRI.gov
Phone: (401) 369-4930 / (401) 680-5320

CITY SOLICITOR’S OFFICE — The City Solicitor is Providence’s chief legal officer. Among other things, his office refers cases to the Board of Licenses and the city’s under-the-radar Nuisance Task Force (see below).

City Solicitor: Jeffrey Dana (a holdover from the Elorza administration retained by Mayor Smiley)
Website: https://www.providenceri.gov/law-department/
E-mail: jdana@providenceri.gov
Phone: (401) 680-5333

NUISANCE TASKFORCE — An inter-agency entity created to “protect and improve the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout Providence” by identifying, targeting, and abating current and long-standing nuisance properties in Providence in a systematic and collaborative way, and “educate individuals and communities to prevent new nuisances.”

It includes representatives from the PVD city solicitor’s office, Police / Fire / Inspection and Standards departments, and the RI Attorney General’s office, but has no public profile.

The Taskforce defines a nuisance property as “Any property that, by virtue of condition, activity, or situation, poses a threat to the health, safety, or welfare of the community or that otherwise interferes with the quiet use and enjoyment of nearby properties” [emphasis added]. That would certainly include excessive noise.

Website: https://www.providenceri.gov/law-department/nuisance-task-force/

PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY — The agency that manages the city’s twelve public-housing developments and what it refers to as “scattered sites.”

Website: https://provhousing.org
Main phone: (401) 751-6400
Office of Security Operations: (401) 421-6980. You can also contact the Providence Police.

Phone numbers and e-mails for individual locations and building managers can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this page: https://provhousing.org/contact/. We suggest that you e-mail the specific manager of the building in question, in order to retain a record of your report to them and create a public record of your complaint — and also “cc“ PVD311@providenceri.gov and the Noise Project’s info@ address, so we can track the issue, and it gets added to city noise-report data.

ANIMAL CONTROL — It is illegal for any dog to bark in a manner that disturbs the peace of the neighborhood. Report excessive dog barking to the police at (401) 272-1111, or through the city’s PVD311 system if it is an ongoing issue that has been previously reported.

Website: https://www.providenceri.gov/animal-control/faqs/ (FAQs offer most comprehensive info)
Phone: (401) 243-6040 from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Tuesday – Saturday)
Hours: Animal Control officers are on routine patrol from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day.

When Animal Control receives a noise report, an animal control officer goes to the address to try to determine the cause of the barking, and check the dog’s license status. The officer will contact the owner to inform them of the complaint and what they must do to prevent further barking (based on observation of possible causes for the dog’s behavior, such as seeing something or someone).

The officer will also contact neighbors to verify the report, and the complainant to explain the process. Based on the officer’s investigation, they may issue a citation. The complainant must be willing to complete forms documenting the noise — and testify in court — for a citation to be issued.

City Council / Legislative Branch

E-mail: council@providenceri.gov
Webpage: https://council.providenceri.gov/connect/contact-us/
Main phone: (401) 521-7477
Social media: @PVDCityCouncil.bsky.social / @PVDCityCouncil
Council President: Rachel Miller, until January 2027 (see contact information below)

The Providence City Council is responsible for creating / amending the city’s laws and public policies — including noise limits — and for ensuring that the mayor and his administration actually enforce the ordinances and implement the policies the Council enacts. The Council can’t simply pass laws and then completely ignore them after it has voted. Too often, however, that seems to be the case.

If the City Council passes laws (including the budget) but then allows the mayor to choose whether or not to implement them, it is effectively abdicating its legislative authority and responsibility under Providence’s Home Rule Charter, and ceding it to the executive branch — i.e., essentially letting the mayor determine the city’s laws. In which case, why bother having a City Council at all?

The ordinances the Council passes have legal effects and shouldn’t just be regulatory theater. If the mayor’s administration is unresponsive or ineffective in addressing excessive noise you are exposed to, you should contact your specific City Council representative to ask them to require the executive branch to enforce the laws and policies the Council has passed.

Suggestions for contacting / engaging with City Council members

The Noise Project recommends that residents contact City Council members by e-mail at their official city e-mail addresses (see table below), which constitute an official city record that must legally be retained by the city and can be obtained through a public-records request.¹³ Many Council members also have personal e-mail addresses they may be more likely to check and respond to (see table below).

E-mail is preferable to using the contact form on the city website because it also allows residents to “cc” the Council members’ unofficial personal e-mail address(es) that they actually use — and the Noise Project’s info@ address, so we can track the issue — and to retain a copy of the message. A spoken conversation with a Councilmember is not an official record of what they said / agreed to.

Residents can and should also provide input on proposed ordinances and amendments that the City Council is considering, by either:

Submitting formal testimony to a public hearing — in person at the hearing itself or prior to by e-mail or printed mail to the City Clerk. The deadline to submit formal testimony is 3:00 p.m. two “business days” before the hearing (i.e., not counting Saturdays or Sundays).
E-mailing their Council member, the City Council as a whole, and / or Council President Rachel Miller. If you send your e-mail to their official address, your message is an official government record, but not necessarily considered testimony / part of the legislative record for a given ordinance.

A more direct way to engage with your City Council member is to attend one of their community meetings — which they should announce to the constituents of their ward — and ask questions and share your views about noise in your ward and the city’s (non-)response to it. Bring your neighbors.

Ward	Council Member*	E-Mail / Social Media	Notes
1	~~John Goncalves~~ Fox Point, downtown	ward1@providenceri.gov info@JohnforWard1.com Twitter: @JohnGPVD	Lost 2026 primary to Miguel Martínez Youngs
2	Jill Davidson Blackstone, College Hill, Wayland	ward2@providenceri.gov info@jilldavidsonri.com Twitter: @JillSDavidson	Won special election in December 2025. Unopposed in 2026.
3	~~Sue AnderBois~~, chair Environment Committee Mt. Hope / Summit	ward3@providenceri.gov anderbois.ward3@gmail.com @sueanderbois.bsky.social	Lost primary for Lt. Gov. Yulyana Torres won Council primary.
4	Justin Roias Charles / North End	ward4@providenceri.gov JustinRoiasWard4@gmail.com Twitter: @JustinRoias	Ran for second term in 2022, won primary in 2026
5	~~Jo-Ann Ryan~~, chair Finance Committee Elmhurst	ward5@providenceri.gov [campaign e-mail address] Twitter: @JoAnnRyanPVD5	Term-limited in 2026. Jackie Goldman won 2026 primary election.
6	Miguel Sanchez Finance Committee Mt. Pleasant	ward6@providenceri.gov Twitter: @MSanchezPVD	Elected in 2022, won primary in 2026
7	~~Ana Vargas~~ Manton, Silver Lake	ward7@providenceri.gov	Elected in 2022, lost 2026 primary to David Marshall
8	James Taylor Finance Committee	ward8@providenceri.gov jtaylor@providenceri.gov	West End Re-elected in 2022
9	Juan Pichardo Elmwood ~~Finance Committee~~	ward9@providenceri.gov juan@juanmpichardo.com Twitter: @JuanMPichardo	Ex-License Board chair elected in 2022, won primary in 2026
10	Pedro Espinal, chair Ordinance Committee Washington Park	ward10@providenceri.gov pedroe1130@gmail.com	Re-elected in 2022, won primary in 2026
11	~~Mary Kay Harris~~ Upper South PVD	ward11@providenceri.gov Twitter: @MaryKayWard11	Term-limited in 2026, Brian Guzman elected
12	Althea Graves Finance Committee Valley	ward12@providenceri.gov Twitter: @MsAltheaGraves	Elected in 2022, won primary in 2026
13	~~Rachel Miller~~ Council president Federal Hill, West End	ward13@providenceri.gov rachel.miller.m@gmail.com Bluesky: Rachel-RI Twitter: @RachelRI	Didn’t run for re- election in 2026, Annajane Yolken won 2026 primary
14	Shelley Peterson Elmhurst, Wanskuck	ward14@providenceri.gov Bluesky: ShelPVD14	Elected in 2022, unopposed in 2026
15	Oscar Vargas Olneyville, Silver Lake	ward15@providenceri.gov oscarvargas15@gmail.com	Re-elected in 2022, unopposed in 2026

* City Council members are limited to three consecutive four-year terms. Names in italics are
term-limited and cannot run again. All fifteen City Council seats were up for election in 2026.

State and Federal agencies

In addition to city government officials, state and even federal agencies and officials have a role in regulating sources of noise in Providence, such as motor vehicles. If the mayor and City Council are unresponsive to complaints about noise, you can try to contact RI agencies and legislators or the regional office of the EPA.

_______________________
¹ According to residents’ submissions to our Community Noise Survey, 87% of those who never report excessive noise say they would do so “if something would be done about it” — indicating that they’re not opposed to reporting noise, but have little faith in the city’s infamously lax response. A cynical observer might conclude that official torpor in response to noise intentionally serves to condition residents to accept it as a norm, which only the most exasperated and persistent still report.

² If you want to report noise to the city but not to the police, you can contact PVD’s 311 constituent-services system (read our caveats before doing so). Note that this will not result in a response that will address active noise you are experiencing directly, but rather merely contribute data on the location and repetition of noise sources to the city’s official records.

Noise denialists dismissively claim that residents just need to ask the people making noise to be quieter. If you try it and it works, the problem is seemingly solved — though for how long (on a given day or over the longer term) remains to be seen: Resident responses to our Community Noise Survey indicate that asking people to be quieter resolves the issue only 7% of the time — 39% of survey participants report that it gets “somewhat” quieter, and more than half (54%) say there’s no change.

Some city residents view noise as an entitlement, and thus think that asking them to be quieter is unreasonable. As a result, we get reports of people responding to requests to be quieter by deliberately being even louder. Others — including several Noise Project volunteers — have been verbally threatened when they’ve asked people to make less noise, which is why Providence Police actually tell residents not to try to address noise on their own. But why let facts get in the way of a convenient narrative.

³ When residents e-mail city officials about noise, we suggest that they also “cc” the City Council member for their ward, include the word “noise” in the subject line so they see what the message is about, and please “cc” the Noise Project’s info@ address, so we’re aware of your issue and can follow up. It may also lead officials to take your complaint more seriously.

⁴ The Noise Project repeatedly asked Mayor Smiley to publicly designate a specific city official to address noise, but he refused and instead left noise issues to his chief of staff Emily Crowell — who handles all city policies in that capacity, and thus isn’t able to focus on noise to the extent needed. This indicated to us that noise was a less important issue to the mayor than he claimed.

⁵ This includes reports of excessive noise to the Providence Police; Board of Licenses; Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism; and other city agencies with at least some responsibility for enforcing municipal noise-related ordinances.

⁶ The fact that none of the City Council members is willing to study or even talk about doing so should tell residents a lot more than what some Council members may say about it. John Goncalves (Ward 1) proposed a study, but never followed through.

⁷ Again, see footnote 2 above.

⁸ In addition, noise reports are logged, so contacting the police at least helps to generate official data on the location and repeated occurrence of noise in the city, which Mayor Smiley refused to otherwise collect using sound-level monitors — despite saying as a candidate that they city should measure noise levels.

⁹ According to a Providence Police Department report, in 2023 the unit addressed 24 violations for amplified entertainment without a license, 21 violations for disturbing the neighborhood, and 12 violations for excessively loud music.

¹⁰ If you report noise by phone, the person who answers will log your complaint in their words, which may not accurately convey what you tell them. The city will then use that second-hand report — i.e., the PVD311 staff’s interpretation of what you told them — as the official report, and you won’t necessarily know what it says or be able to dispute it. It’s better to report it yourself.

¹¹ Providing information about past violations may seem unnecessary, but the alternative is to rely on the city to aggregate information from previous reports, which is the key to demonstrating recurrent offenses. They may do so or may not, and if they don’t it means that the issue is never referred to the city’s Nuisance Taskforce — and the repeated source isn’t addressed.

¹² Confusingly, the drop-down menu on the previous version of the PVD311 form included an option to report fireworks, but told residents to call the police to report fireworks noise instead of using 311. For early garbage collection, it asked whether the service location was residential or commercial, the name of the company doing it — and included an option to keep the report private (presumably from the company itself). All that was eliminated when the service was revised under Mayor Smiley.

¹³ Calling City Council members instead of e-mailing is not recommended, since (as with calling PVD311) there is no record of what was said on the call. Doing both is a good idea, as your e-mail can refer to the date and subject(s) of the phone call, or your call can refer to the date and subject of your e-mail. City officials know that call logs are less useful as records of noise reports.