COMMUNITY ASSISTED PARTY PROGRAM (CAPP)

If talking to your neighbor about their noisy parties does not ease or eliminate the problem, getting the house CAPP’d should. Police reports corroborating the problem are essential.

WHAT DOES A CAPP DO?

The Community Assisted Party Program (CAPP) is a police program that identifies locations that chronically host loud and disturbing parties. CAPP criteria are based on officer-confirmed offenses. When the residence has met the CAPP criteria, the CRO notifies the residents and the property owner that their residence has a CAPP designation. The CAPP designation remains in effect for one year, regardless of occupant changes. CAPP designations result in officers responding to future party calls with a zero-tolerance posture. A second response within 24 hours will result in an administrative citation being issued to the resident. The penalty is $1,000 per resident and the property owner if not living on the premises.

CONTACT OUR NORTHERN DIVISION COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICER (CRO) FOR HELP NAVIGATING THE CAPP PROGRAM.

WHEN REPORTING A PARTY TO THE POLICE:

  1. Call when your neighbor’s noise is disturbing you. This may be during the day or night. Do not wait until 2 am!

  2. Call 619-531-2000 or 858-484-3154. Provide the EXACT ADDRESS of the party.

  3. Answer all the dispatcher’s questions. PLEASE BE PATIENT!

  4. At the end of the call, ask for the Incident #, and write it down in a permanent place you use to report problems to the police. Include the date, time, and details of what exactly occurred.

  5. Consider asking the dispatcher to speak if you may speak with the responding officer. This will allow you to give them more details and see their actions.

  6. Whether the officer feels the circumstances constitute a "violation" depends on the officer’s experience and if the party is winding down. If you are present with the officer, you may have an opportunity to make your case and possibly "sway" the officer’s judgment. Otherwise, the only person the officer will likely speak to is the party host. And, of course, the host will attempt to sway the officer’s judgment, too.

Call back if the party continues for more than 2 hours or if the noise stops; otherwise, the call will be dropped.

How Does an Address Get CAPP’d?

  • Anytime a Second Response Notice is issued to a party.

  • Two or more First Response Notices issued within 30 days.

  • A single “minor in possession of alcohol” citation was issued at a party.

  • At the police's discretion, upon community request, an investigation into recent “calls for police service” may result in a CAPP designation.

Why the police may not respond or arrive too late to see the offense:

•Officers are always dispatched to the HIGHEST priority call first.” Every call gets a priority number 1 through 5. Within a priority group, complaints are managed according to call time. Noise complaints are usually priority 4 or 5.

•A noise complaint over 2 hours old and with no more complaints is canceled!

•The noise comes from an apartment or condominium complex, and you cannot identify the specific unit.

•When officers work alone before responding or making contact, they may wait for a second officer to arrive. This is usually the case when the caller tells the dispatcher that the party is large, there is violence, or similarly threatening conditions.