Barrie police will be receiving some help from the eyes and ears of a citizens' group when it comes to noisy vehicles in local neighbourhoods.
In partnership with the city, and as part of the Barrie police’s ongoing strategy to address vehicles that are modified to be unnecessarily loud, volunteers from the Citizens On Patrol (COPs) team will be assisting by measuring noise levels from traffic in various areas around Barrie.
The findings will be reported to the Barrie police traffic unit for further attention and enforcement as needed.
Barrie police communication’s co-ordinator Peter Leon told BarrieToday that noisy vehicles is one of the biggest complaints they receive during the summer months.
“Not only are these vehicles already loud, but especially some areas where it bounces off the buildings and become louder,” he said Monday. “There are complaints from the lakeshore area where the sound is carrying across the lake, so we get lots of calls on this.”
Using a noise-monitoring device, volunteers with the COP program will monitor noise levels and note vehicles which register a ‘red’ or high noise rating. The registered owners of these vehicles may receive a traffic complaint warning letter from the local traffic unit.
“The device, which is very portable, will be by a roadside and monitor the levels of vehicles passing by," Leon said. "The citizen will write down the licence-plate number of the vehicle that is causing the disruptive noise and we will send a notification to the address of that vehicle.”
The letter from police is not a ticket, and it is not accompanied by a fine, but the intention is that it will serve as a reminder to the driver about the level of noise created by their vehicle.
Data collected will also be used to send out traffic enforcement resources, should they be needed.
COP volunteers will be measuring noise in areas identified by ward councillors through feedback they have been received, as well as areas noted by the police traffic unit through online traffic complaints.
If you have concerns over noisy vehicles, police ask you to fill out their online traffic complaint form online by clicking here, which allows them to determine the areas where noisy vehicles are being driven.
