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What would you rather wake up to, the sound of meadowlarks and robins crooning away … or the roar of a lawnmower?
Well, even if you don’t mind the sound of a machine at 5 a.m., your neighbour might not be a fan.
That’s one of the common issues that police have to deal with in the spring and summer.
Regina Police Service Chief Evan Bray joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Wednesday to talk about the transition from winter into spring and how it affects police.
Many of the complaints they get are noise-related — like dealing with neighbours arguing over lawn care.
“Yes, we do have a noise bylaw. If it’s interfering with the lawful enjoyment of your home … I think things are, is this a normal time that people would be out doing yard maintenance? Or is this early and you would expect most people in the neighbourhood would be sleeping?” Bray said.
While his officers do have the power to step in and give a warning or hand out a ticket, he said it’s best if it doesn’t get that far.
“You can do some enforcement on it, but that’s a situation where I think there just needs to be really good communication among neighbours. Try and resolve it that way,” he recommended.
“But trust me, I’ve been called out to those calls many times.”
Lawnmowers and house renovations aren’t the only spring source of noise. Bray said noisy drivers are another issue.
“Racing, speeding vehicles … people are frustrated by the amount of vehicle noise (and) squealing tires. Parking lots tend to be a problem late at night,” he said.
“This is not news to us. The challenge is trying to enforce it in an entire city.”
So what exactly can they do to catch loud or dangerous drivers?
“We will obviously do projects in different parts of the city, and especially areas that are hotspots,” Bray began.
“We spent a lot of time talking about things that could be done, like gates on parking lots at night so that vehicle access is restricted. There are things that can be done that are more environmental changes, but can really limit, hopefully, some of these challenges.”
That being said, they can’t catch everyone.
“It’s a big city and trying to cover all the needs of the city and having police officers 24/7 in different locations is a real challenge,” he said.