Gerald, 64, of Boise, Idaho called the non-emergency police line at 7:45 PM to report “unpermitted ambient sound” from his neighbor’s backyard wind chimes. Officers Martinez and Chen arrived, confirmed the chimes were operating within city noise ordinance limits, and one of them said, “these are actually really nice.” Gerald filed a second complaint about that.
The follow-up complaint described Officer Chen as having “a permissive attitude toward acoustic nuisance.” The department reviewed both complaints. The department closed both complaints. The chimes are still up. Gerald has purchased a decibel meter. He has not yet figured out how to use it.