BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
In December 2012, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the law allowing officers to cite drivers for loud music was unconstitutional. Since that time, the City of Tampa has revisited and restructured its ordinance.
Two weeks ago, members of the City Council passed an ordinance to address the issue of loud music. The vote was unanimous.
The second reading of the ordinance will take place on May 2nd. If there are no challenges at that time, it will go into effect immediately.
City Councilman Frank Reddick, Representative for District 5, said he made the motion to pass the ordinance. “We had some changes made to the existing ordinance. Originally, the law said if an officer could hear the music from 100 feet away, he could cite the driver. We changed that to 50 feet.
“We are trying to give law enforcement the tools they need to stop people from disturbing others in their neighborhoods. We have received numerous complaints from people about the music rattling their winds and just causing a disturbance,” Councilman Reddick said.
He further stated, “The bill will meet any legal challenges and that is what we wanted to do.”
Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor said, “It is a very important piece of legislation for the Tampa Police Department and for the community. Since crime is down, noise is one of the main complaints we are getting from the loud boom-boom of music and it’s very disruptive.
“Now, we send letters to the people, but that is really ineffective and we had no way of dealing with the issue. If we can have an ordinance, it would allow officers to stop motorists and cite them,” she said.
Chief Castor stated that some people complaint about it in their respective neighborhoods. However, it is a problem 24 hours a day for those who reside on main thoroughfares.
The action of the Florida Supreme Court justices struck down the 2005 state law that allowed officers to stop motorists if the music was plainly audible within 25 feet. In doing so, the court upheld the 2nd District Court of Appeal decision.
The law was rejected because it wasn’t universally applicable to all types of noise. It provided exemptions for political or commercial noise.
Pending State Level Noise Bills
Earlier this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a measure to re-enact the state’s law. However, the panel rejected an effort that would have required police to keep a record of whether the law is used more often to ticket African Americans and Latinos.
If it passes SB 634 would make it illegal for any type of sound coming from a car to be able to be “plainly audible” at 25 feet or more. There would be a $30 fee for violations.
Senator Arthenia Joyner had sought an amendment to the bill that would place a check box on the tickets to indicate the race of the person being cited. “The proclivity is that we make more noise than anybody else,” she said.
A House version of the bill, HB 1019, is on the calendar waiting for a floor vote.
