On February 28, 2016, Ottawa Police announced that they would no longer be responding to noise complaints between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m. which left a void in noise complaint coverage as bylaw officers end their shifts at 2 a.m. Last week several bylaw officers were busted running an after-hours rave ring.The arresting officer, Blades McCoy, happened to be walking home at 4 a.m. from a late night out with friends when he happened upon Dundonald park. It was there where he found 15 intoxicated off-duty bylaw officers dancing, singing, drinking, and blowing vuvuzelas.
“I was walking down Somerset when I heard LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ which told me something was seriously wrong. Nobody except out of touch adults listen to that song anymore,” says McCoy. “I called the police because even though there were some serious noise violations, there were also many cases of public intoxication. I normally would have left the issue alone, but I really hate LMFAO.”
The leader of the rave ring, Dominic Posada-Diaz, offered a response to the incident: “We found the perfect loophole. Nobody takes noise complains after 2:00am so we started going out to Dundonald Park to relax after our late shifts ended. Someone once brought music and then it snowballed from there. We deeply apologize to the city for betraying their trust. We will be quieter next time.”
The city has not made any indication of changing the rules to close the loophole.
