As in years past, some East Side residents are growing impatient with rowdy off-campus student parties this September. But this year, community members say the Providence Police Department and the University are taking a firmer stance on disruptive students.
In the last two weeks, since students have returned to campus, there have been six noise or disorderly conduct complaints that have resulted in $200 fines for student tenants, said Lieutenant John Ryan, who leads the PPD on the East Side. Three of the fined houses are rented by Brown students, and the students involved have been contacted by the University, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of Residential Life.
The $200 fines are issued to a house if noise is clearly audible from 200 feet away or more, Ryan said.
In a recent e-mail to community members, local politicians and the University, the association wrote "we feel that alcohol consumption is having a negative effect on town/gown relations. This has gotten steadily worse," adding that the "Providence Police department are superbly responsive but they are, in our opinion, doing the work of the University."
Legally, however, Brown DPS officers are not permitted to respond to off-campus calls unless they are accompanied by a member of the Providence Police, Ryan said.
"We're trying to work together with Brown," Ryan said. "Unless it's a major violation, we prefer to keep (Brown-related incidents) in-house," meaning Brown DPS is involved. The District 9 station, which Ryan heads, is responsible for the highly student-populated areas in the College Hill and Fox Point neighborhoods. Ryan said the station began using two-man units on Friday, Sept. 5 made up of one PPD and one DPS officer to monitor houses that have been reported on their night of duty or beforehand.
The team monitored seven locations last weekend which have posed problems in the past, and did not need to issue any warnings or fines.
Ryan said the DPS/PPD team would be used again next weekend.
At the beginning of the year, students living off-campus received an e-mail from administrators asking them to be respectful neighbors. This is the second time such an e-mail has been sent, Director of State and Community Relations Darrell Brown said. If a noise complaint is recorded by the Providence Police, Brown is notified, and in turn sends letters to the disruptive tenants.
If further action is deemed necessary, the students must meet with either Bova or Brown. Students who repeatedly cause problems, even after receiving letters or attending meetings, can be forced to move back on campus.
Students this year were also given a revamped online tutorial before signing off-campus housing release forms, Bova said.
The Williams Street Association, a group of Williams Street residents - including several Brown professors - has been particularly active in discussions concerning off-campus parties.
Richard Fleischer, a Williams Street resident and member of the association, blamed landlords as well as their student tenants. "There seem to be equal numbers of both decent and considerate students and spoiled, selfish, inconsiderate ones," Fleischer wrote in an e-mail, adding, "There is a frequent connection to their behavior and the general natures and oversight provided by their landlords."
With landlord responsibility in mind, Ryan said he plans to use a city ordinance passed in 2006 that a landlord must pay an initial fee of $250 if there is a second incident reported by police within 60 days of a first incident reported by police at a given house. Subsequent fines of $350 and $500 are issued if further incidents in the 60-day period occur. Ryan said he has not taken advantage of the ordinance since he became lieutenant earlier this year.
Brown said he and Bova already met with three prominent landlords on College Hill over the summer.
Brown said extensive communication between the PPD, Brown and student tenants is preferred to strictly enforcing penalties.
"The (DPS/PPD) task force has evolved out of our meetings with the city, neighborhood associations and (Ward 1) Councilman Seth Yurdin," Brown said. "We think joining with the Providence Police has improved coordination and cooperation."
John Rousseau, a member of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association and former landlord to Brown students, says he thinks Brown has improved in monitoring and maintaining troublesome student activity.
"The thing that's different this year is they have jumped on it immediately," said Rousseau, who says he forwards all complaints from the FPNA to Bova.
Yurdin, whose jurisdiction covers the controversial Williams Street area said he was also impressed with Brown's increased efforts this fall. "There have been a series of steps the University has taken - if you compare the way things were 4 or 5 years ago," including the information given to students, Yurdin said.
Despite the University's efforts, students don't always seem to get the message, Rousseau said. "We don't care about their love lives ... or doing weird things with their computer guitars. ... We just want to get a good night sleep."
East George Street resident Peter McElroy '09.5 says he is occasionally guilty of being noisy, but he and his neighbors have resolved conflicts without police intervention. "It's easy to be in a large group and the noise level just kind of escalates," he said. "All it takes (to stop) is someone calling you and telling you to be quiet."
"The vast majority of students are respectful of their neighbors," Brown said.
But "Dean Bova and I are like Batman and Robin," he added. "Poor behavior by a few students is unacceptable."
