Report an Issue or Concern
Report Issues to the City
The first step in reporting issues is to contact the city. Philadelphia’s 911 system is set up to manage both emergency and non-emergency issues, such as noise complaints. For issues that aren’t time sensitive and/or those that will require departments other than emergency services, you can make your report to the City by dialing 311, using www.philly311.gov or downloading the free mobile app.
Noise Complaints
The Right to Quiet Enjoyment of Property is a part of property ownership. The same right is transferred when renting a home or apartment. In addition to the Right to Quiet Enjoyment, the city has noise ordinances to further protect residences after certain hours.
When noise becomes a nuisance, the 5th District Police Department asks that residents call 911. The 911 system is equipped to handle both emergency calls and non-emergency situations such as noise complaints. The police will be dispatched to the property address the noise situation.
The police ask that residents contact 911 for several reasons:
- First, by attempting to address the situation on your own you risk your personal safety.
Second, police officers are trained to deal with these situations and have a higher likelihood of dealing with the issue successfully.
Third, when a complaint is made to 911 the City has a written record of the complaint. This becomes important if further action is needed due to repeat occurrences.
WICA’s Role
Some assume that WICA’s role is to approach the residents of nuisance properties to address the problem on behalf of the community or, in the case of rental property, to escalate the issue to the landlords to deal with their tenants.
Much like approaching a neighbor on your own, this puts our volunteers at risk and we are not trained in how to deal with these situations. To avoid escalation into an altercation, we don’t personally approach residents and landlords when their is a problem.
It is important that you make us aware of noise complaints. We will document the incident to identify nuisance properties. In many cases, we will write a letter from the Civic to the residents alerting them to the issue and requesting consideration. We may also write a letter to absentee landlords alerting them to the situation, as well. As problems persist, we can work with our community police liaison and our Councilman’s office to address ongoing issues.
