Quote Quoting asdf1865
I have checked the city noise ordinances which says that music should not be heard more than 40ft from its source
That sounds like an unconstitutional restraint of "free speech". My mother can hear a quiet whisper that far away. Still, challenging that can be a time-consuming hassle. It might help if you could link the actual ordinance.

if the police do contact someone at the door, what's a good answer to a question like "Is there a party going on in there?"
I considered all the things that could go wrong, and how to prepare for them, and concluded having someone talk to them is just asking for trouble. For example, the police could order, "Get the homeowner." I believe the door"man" would be entitled to not answer and not do anything, but the police might respond with some kind of arrest for obstructing an officer. And if the person does go to get the homeowner, police have been known to (illegally) follow the doorman into the house, and might be able to persuade a judge that the doorman gave consent to enter.

If I were handling the situation, I would tape a document to the front door starting, "To the police..." and giving a phone number to call, and stating the occupants have a Fourth and Fifth Amendment right to not answer the door, even if the police demand it. It should state that the police do not have permission to enter the home.

The document might cite the noise ordinance and point out that it is an unconstitutional restraint on free speech, preferably giving a cite.

The document might also list the exigent circumstances that allow police to enter without a search warrant (with the point that they had better not break in with some other excuse), such as:
  • hot pursuit of a felon who knows he is being chased
  • probable cause that someone inside is in physical danger
  • probable cause of great property damage (e.g. fire)
  • probable cause that evidence of a felony is in imminent danger of being destroyed
  • probable cause to believe the subject of an arrest warrant is present in that home

Note: Wikipedia has a horrible article on exigent circumstances. It is too vague, and its assertions are not supported by its cites. FourthAmendment.com is an excellent source of authoritative cases concerning exigent circumstances, though not in a summary form.

The document might also document situations that are not exigent circumstances, such as:
  • refusal for someone to answer the door
  • probable cause to believe the subject of an arrest warrant might be present in that home
  • probable cause that a crime is being committed inside
  • probable cause that a felon is inside who does not know the police are after him
  • probable cause that a person who has committed a misdemeanor is inside and knows the police are after "him"
  • probable cause that evidence of a felony is inside and people inside are not aware that the police are coming to seize that evidence

Note that all but the first two points immediately above are good reasons for the police to go away, get a search warrant, and come back. If police knock and announce they have a search warrant, you should open the door, as otherwise they will legally break it down.

Even better would be footnotes containing cites of supporting cases. You could undoubtedly find such cites at FourthAmendment.com. Although that would be time-consuming, it would also be very educational.

An advantage of such a document is that it makes it very clear exactly what the "confrontation" consisted of.


With such a document taped to the front door, the job of the doorman would be to keep a sharp eye out for the police, and when they start to approach, to slip inside, shut the door, lock it and immediately turn down the music. If the police say they have a search warrant, open the door. Much simpler and easier to reliably recreate the encounter.

Yes, all of this may seem like overkill. It sounds like you would rather find some magic words the doorman could say to the police that would cause them to go away. Good luck with that. But it sounds like you are planning to provoke a confrontation with the police. Please realize that some officers do not react kindly or legally to people "not cooperating" during confrontations. It would be good to just behave completely legally, but that unconstitutional ordinance makes that difficult. So be prepared for difficulties.

Oh, and realize that the police may come back with a warrant (such as to search for evidence of the crime of making too much noise). So I suggest you try to have everyone inside behave legally. If you serve alcohol, I would suggest not allowing any underage persons inside.