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Ticket the residents, but let the range break the law?
Resident John D. was served on 9/21/06 with a noise
violation ticket by Town of Brookhaven Code
Enforcement/Public Safety Department Sgt. Mancuso [badge
803] without the officer ever hearing the supposed
noise. John was playing negative white noise in attempt
to protect himself from loud gunshot noises coming from
the Trap & Skeet Range across the street only 100' away.
2 public safety cars and 3 police cars responded to the
complaint
Here are the events leading to the summons as told by
John D.:
"I plugged in my receiver and turned it on around 12:30.
It was on for a little over 30 minutes when the Public
Safety car pulled up. I went outside, turned the volume
off and then walked across the street to speak to the
officer [Officer Brown -badge 1226]. He told me that
neighbors had complained about the noise. I said that it
was strange that my neighbors were complaining since the
neighbors on either side of me were not home at the
time, and we’re the only three houses in the vicinity.
Officer Brown said that he couldn’t divulge the source,
I said I understood. I told him that the receiver was
setup to negate the sound of the gun shots, in which he
said it seemed obvious to him and that he would write
down that the noise has stopped.
He DID NOT warn me that if it continued there would be
repercussions, he simply said that “the noise has
stopped”. He asked for my name, I gave it to him and he
was on his way. After about 20 minutes of silence, the
gunshots started again. I turned up the volume and once
again it drowned out the gunshots so that I could work.
After about 15 minutes I decided to turn the receiver
off. Ten minutes went by when 2 Public Safety cars
pulled up. One was Officer Brown; the other was Sgt.
Mancuso [badge 803]. The Sgt. came out of his car, with
a determined look on his face, and told me the neighbors
complained again and that “I had been warned” and he
would issue me a summons. Keep in mind that the Sgt. had
not heard any sound for himself because the receiver was
already off! I told the Sgt., that if he gave me a
summons he must issue a summons to the Trap & Skeet
vendor for the same exact reason. He argued back
insisting that he did not have the authority and that
the Park Police would have jurisdiction for that
summons. I explained to him that the Park Police
transfer my calls to Suffolk Police, who in turn send it
back to Public Safety.
This must have frustrated him because he had Officer
Brown call Suffolk Police saying that I was being
“resistant” and that they needed help as soon as he
heard that I told him I was going to call Park Police to
have a summons issued to the vendor. I called twice and
all I got was an answering machine; they never showed
up. Three Suffolk Police cruisers arrive! Now, I’m the
only man standing there with 5 Suffolk Police Officers
and 2 Public Safety Officers. Apparently, Sgt. Mancuso
felt that he would need the help of 5 Suffolk County
Officers to issue one noise summons to a man who just
wants to get an acceptable answer without a political
run-around!
I explained to the officers that I had no problem
accepting the summons. My argument was why Sgt Mancuso
could not fully explain why he couldn’t issue a summons
to the vendor after I explained to him that Supervisor
Foley said publicly the range was in direct violation of
the town noise law. Also, Sgt Mancuso was
“passing-the-buck” to Parks Police, who pass it to
Suffolk Police, who pass it back to Brookhaven Public
Safety. I told them I was tired of being jerked around.
Suffolk Police couldn’t answer my question, Parks Police
couldn’t answer my question, and certainly Sgt Mancuso
couldn’t answer my question. So, I took my summons,
wished them all a “good” day and everybody went on their
way. BTW: The summons was incorrectly filled out;
Officer Brown set the appearance date to 9/21 at 9am,
when this whole event didn’t end until 9/21 2pm. I
called Public Safety to complain about the gun noise
once again, (it was only a matter of 10 min.). He and
Mancuso showed up and did nothing about the noise. I
also told Brown of his mistake. It just goes to show
that they have no clue how to fill out a summons, let
alone dictate who has jurisdiction to issue summonses."
- John D.
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