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Disorderly Conduct, Peace Disturbances and Noise

Alumni Memorial Building For off-campus students, it is important to remember that you are living in a neighborhood, and that certain standards prevail. In Bethlehem, a peace disturbance is defined by the following:

"A person is guilty of disorderly conduct if, with intent to cause inconvenience, annoyance or alarm…, he:

engages in fighting or threatening, or in...tumultuous behavior,
makes unreasonable noise,
uses obscene language or makes an obscene gesture,
creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by an act which serves no legitimate purpose…"

"Whoever willfully makes or causes…loud, boisterous, and unseemly noise or disturbance to the annoyance of the peaceable residents nearby… "commits disorderly conduct and a disorderly house is considered a "boisterous gathering."

The making of unnecessary noises like automobile horns, radios, amplifying systems, etc., is also considered a public nuisance. Remember, what may be normal "on the hill" may be an annoyance off-campus.

City police do respond to citizen complaints about noise and other disturbances, usually with a warning first, and then with the issuance of citations if more complaints are made. In some neighborhoods where noise is a frequent problem, residents have become weary of personally requesting quiet and simply call the police as an initial response. Citations carry fines because they are issued upon the violation of a city ordinance; these fines can range up to $600.

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Last modified: 08/24/98