You can now use the 911 service to report noise complaints

TropicalPaul

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Sep 3, 2013
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The president's office tweeted at 1.31pm on 20th November "Con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de vida de las familias dominicanas, el @911GobDo protegera de ruidos molestosos". Which basically means that people can now use the 911 service to report noise. My inside contact in the government said that the 911 service also monitors calls and reports back to the police at a high level on problem areas, so this should lead to stronger action being taken against noisy bars and colmados.

I know someone who is having trouble with a noisy nightclub in the Colonial Zone so we have suggested they give this a try at the weekend and report back.

Let's wait and see if it works. And cue a few pages of sceptical comments from DR1...
 

bachata

Aprendiz de todo profesional de nada
Aug 18, 2007
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I am right now at the most noisy corner of Santiago city, across the stree from Puerta dos UTESA... I would like to stay here for ever but I will have to go back the boring city of Raleigh NC tomorrow...

I love this place, I will make my move back to DR some time soon!

JJ
 

TropicalPaul

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Sep 3, 2013
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Actually I have just read a piece about it on Dominican Today, they are reporting that the service will only start on January 15th, conveniently timed for just after the Christmas open-all-hours period ends.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
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How on earth can they start abusing the 911 system for noise complaints. There is already a number for noise complaints, I've used it and it's not that ineffective, just make the response to that number better, but don't overflow the 911 systems with this.

How are they going to combat prank calls now: my neighbor was really making a lot of noise, but just turned it down.
 

CristoRey

Welcome To Wonderland
Apr 1, 2014
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The 911 system is an emergency system and should only be used for an EMERGENCY.
 
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Cdn_Gringo

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Apr 29, 2014
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Freedom is an illusion and absolute freedom is an illusion that just does not exist.

1) Freedom to travel, but you have to have passport and in some cases a visa
2) Freedom of speech, provided you don't promote hate or yell fire in a theater
3) Freedom to own firearms, but only certain ones and in some cases you have to register them
4) Freedom to associate, provided it doesn't turn into a riot or disrupt the peace
5) Freedom of religion...go ahead and tell someone you are a witch
6) Freedom to collect rain water. Tell that to the people in states that tax rain water collection
7) Freedom to drive. Sorry you have no right to drive a car in any jurisdiction
8) Freedom to expect privacy on the telephone...nope the spooks are listening and recording
9) Freedom to be safe and secure in your own home...only until the cops kick the door in justified or not.

There is no true freedom, just some places are less intrusive than others.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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can i report entire nation? if only all of DR had just one neck....
 

bachata

Aprendiz de todo profesional de nada
Aug 18, 2007
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I am right now at the most noisy corner of Santiago city, across the stree from Puerta dos UTESA... I would like to stay here for ever but I will have to go back the boring city of Raleigh NC tomorrow...

I love this place, I will make my move back to DR some time soon!

JJ

I am Back to Raleigh after a non-planed week vacation to DR, I am still confuse thinking in how Dominican people being so poor can live so happy.

Here in NC people have all kind of material stuffs but is missing something we "Calor Humano" in the DR...

Two very different countries!

Something that really surprised me is the car infront of me paid for my breakfast this Morning at the drivethru the Mcdonald located on I-95 Fayetteville NC I was driving home from from FLL airport, I asked the attendant but he couldnt say why the old man did so... maybe cause the tag in the front of my minivan, it's the American Flag and the Eagle that represent the power of this country.

I miss my noisy neighborhood La Villa in Santiago.

JJ
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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I am still confuse thinking in how Dominican people being so poor can live so happy.

this is the worst misconception about DR. how happy do you think people are when their kids die because of the lack of medicine? shaking my head.

coming back to loud music: 5 out of 10 dominicans exposed to barrio noises are deaf or have hearing problems. my, they must so happy!
Cinco de cada 10 dominicanos expuestos a ruidos contrae alg?n tipo de sordera, seg?n un especialista - DiarioLibre.com
 

the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
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this is the worst misconception about DR. how happy do you think people are when their kids die because of the lack of medicine? shaking my head.

coming back to loud music: 5 out of 10 dominicans exposed to barrio noises are deaf or have hearing problems. my, they must so happy!
Cinco de cada 10 dominicanos expuestos a ruidos contrae alg?n tipo de sordera, seg?n un especialista - DiarioLibre.com

that is why Dominicans speak so loudly; they can't hear themselves, so they shout.

it happened to me again yesterday. i stopped in a hole in the wall to get a soda. as soon as i sat down, the woman turns on the music, full blast. i call her over , and ask her why. she asks me

'don't you want music?"

no; i want to drink my Pepsi in peace and quiet. what makes you think i need noise to be content?
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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people here have nothing to say to each other. nothing to say, full stop, actually. hence no one is bothered by loud music.
 

arturo

Bronze
Mar 14, 2002
1,336
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noise, and lots of it

It is a noise culture. Business establishments of all kinds subscribe to the belief that VERY LOUD MUSIC attracts and helps retain customers. That is the reason a shopkeeper will crank up the music when a customer arrives. In a private car, one of the very few places one can escape the noise, someone will normally reach for the radio after 5 minutes or so. Silence seems to make many people uneasy. The next time you watch a TV talk show like Ch?vere Nights, compare it to the European or North American counterparts. On Dominican TV, the band plays (usually out of tune) during interviews and announcements. Hosts like Jochy Santos and Milagros German raise their voices to be heard over the band when they are announcing segments. It's fairly unique. It's not healthy.

I had to call one of my drivers at his house on Saturday.

He answered the phone, and the music was so loud I had to move my phone from my ear.

As I tried to communicate with him, all he could say was Eh? EH? EH?

He finally got up and walked out of his house to talk to me. I asked him why he didn't just turn it down, and he said "Oh! Because I like to listen to it like that. It helps me relax"
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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South Coast
I can tell you where I live I am the only gringo, and my neighbors cherish their silence religiously.

Loud music here isn't as accepted as you are making it out to be, or there wouldn't be all this attention to utilizing 9-1-1 to try to control it.

I agree with this. Even where we live it is quiet almost all the time. An evangelical church opened down the road, and their music and singing reverberated through the area - the junta de vecinos got together and confronted them, and got them to agree to only play the music and sing from 8 to 10 pm. Promptly at 10 the area was peaceful and quiet. I guess the church members didn't like that because I think they moved the church somewhere else - now it's quiet all the time.

The exception to the above is that at the end of our road is the beach, and the music there is very, very loud. Thankfully, we can't hear it at our house.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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I can tell you where I live I am the only gringo, and my neighbors cherish their silence religiously.
Loud music here isn't as accepted as you are making it out to be, or there wouldn't be all this attention to utilizing 9-1-1 to try to control it.

where i live miesposo is the only dominican. and yes, it is very quiet. but i lived in a barrio before and the noise was pretty much 24/7. no one ever complained either.

National Police Chief Major General Manuel Castro Castillo has announced that extra measures are being taken to ensure public safety during the Christmas holidays. "Quiet Christmas 2014" is the name of the operation that begins on 3 December to prevent traffic accidents and crime.

in all honesty in spanish it's navidad tranquila rather than silenciosa: Jefe de la Polic?a anuncia inicio de "Navidad Tranquila 2014" para el 3 de diciembre - DiarioLibre.com
 
From DR1 news

Dispatchers have sent out 911 units to respond to 200,000 emergencies in the Greater Santo Domingo area since its start six months ago. The pilot program has been praised in both the DR and abroad. There are now plans to extend it to Santiago. As of January 2015, residents in Greater Santo Domingo will also be able to call the service to report cases of noise pollution.

noise pollution, makes no sense at all.:confused:
 

arturo

Bronze
Mar 14, 2002
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noisy noise

It's true, there is an organized process for neighborhood associations ("moradores") to issue noise complaints to law enforcement. Problem colmados - usually colmadones - occasionally get shut down over the complaints. Most every year during Semana Santa the police will confiscate sound systems from problem discos and colmados.

The excessive noise is more of a low end barrio phenomenon. It's easier to avoid in upper end neighborhoods.


I can tell you where I live I am the only gringo, and my neighbors cherish their silence religiously.

Loud music here isn't as accepted as you are making it out to be, or there wouldn't be all this attention to utilizing 9-1-1 to try to control it.