LAist just wrote up a post about Loyola Marymount University students being required to complete an orientation before being able to live off campus, which covers city ordinances and what police officer's have a right to do when they respond to a noise complaint.
This week at a forum for students to ask police and city attorneys questions, the LAPD gave the low-down on how responding officers are allowed to deal with parties "When responding to any party, officers have the discretion to do any of the following: warn and disperse the crowd, cite the responsible party giver for Disturbing the Peace and/or noise violations, file a Disturbing the Peace report with no arrest or citation given or physically arrest and then book the individual at Pacific Division."
Whether you get an orientation like LMU's or not, the lesson is that you should know your rights. Living off campus comes with a number of responsibilities and the local police are often far less forgiving than campus police. Their priority is the safety and happiness of the community they serve and they're not usually very forgiving of college students that spend only a few months in an area then leave. But there are some easy steps to take to make sure you don't ever have to deal with them.
Good evening! We're just checking in to wish everyone a happy holiday season...
