Aldermen deaf to flaws in bad noise ordinance
By David L. Jackson Jr.
Guest Columnist
On Friday, January 27, the Board of Alderman of the city of St. Louis passed an ordinance intended to curb loud music coming from automobiles within the city limits. I was somewhat dismayed that Alderman Craig Schmid, who introduced the bill repeatedly, acknowledged that New York City and another municipality have a similar ordinance. Someone should tell Schmid that St. Louis is not New York City. What works somewhere else may not work here. He should have first asked who, what and why regarding the need and legality of this ordinance, before he stood so solidly behind these other cities’ ordinances.
The rhetoric of the aldermen during the discussion of Proposed Board Bill 81 amazed me. I could not believe that the black aldermen were actually supporting this bill as it was written. It appeared they were missing the main reason why this is a bad bill.
Alderman Stephen Gregali appeared to be the only alderman who understood this bill, as it relates to the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. Gregali asked Schmid for the response from the city counselor’s office and, to my amazement, Schmid stated that he did not have the response available and he did not know exactly what the response was. This bill will definitely be challenged in court when the first business owner is given a ticket or summons for the installation of these powerful speakers and the first vehicle owner’s automobile is towed.
What is really disturbing is that Alderman Gregory Carter mentioned that the Board of Aldermen is trying to create a Police Civilian Review Board and said if anyone had concerns with the ordinance they could present them to the review committee when it is formed. The way the bill was presented, the alderman voting for it were telling the citizens of St. Louis, “We trust the police to do the right thing. They’ll only tow your car if the music is loud.”
Yeah, right.
Most of the alderman seem to support the need for the Police Civilian Review Board. So you have to question why they are passing such a poorly written bill. This bill will give any police officer the authority to seize and tow a person’s vehicle for four days for any reason the officer deems fit; the radio does not even have to be playing. The officer may know the driver, have a problem with the driver or just want to show the driver he has the power to disrupt his life.
So the question to Alderman Carter is: do we really need a police review committee if you trust that all police officers will act within the law?
The U.S. Supreme Court has given authority to police officers throughout the country to board any public mode of transportation and make a passenger disembark from that transportation vehicle and submit to a search without probable cause or complaint. Why do our legislators continue to take away our civil liberties?
Incidentally, Alderman Freeman Bosley Sr. said he had introduced a similar bill approximately 24 years ago. I wonder if Bosley is now re-considering whether he should re-introduce his Bill for Public Caning and whether the same aldermen who supported Schmid’s bill would support a public caning ordinance.
What’s next? If I’m playing my stereo too loud at home and my neighbor calls the police first before talking with me, will the police arrive and give my family a summons to appear in court for confiscation or eviction from my home?
This ordinance will produce a snowball effect in the city of St. Louis and will put the city at risk for many lawsuits, as well as reimbursement of parking fees relating to the towing and storage of citizens’ vehicles. The city will suffer due to this bill and the actions of our legislators in passing it.