Houston police's new 'Club Squad' to combat noise complaints in Third Ward

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Police Department is launching a "club squad" to investigate complaints about the loud noises and traffic noise that nightlife brings on Emancipation Avenue.

The squad will consist of six officers and a sergeant and will launch within the next six to eight weeks.

Surveillance video shared by a Third Ward resident shows the kinds of activities many are concerned about. You can see a line of slow-moving cars clogging the narrow lanes of Emancipation after midnight on a Monday morning.

Residents say many of the passing vehicles blast music, in addition to the music coming from nearby clubs and bars.

"It's an absolute madhouse because it looks like it's a car club," Kenneth Davis said. "They pull up, stop, open the trunks, and party all night long."

Davis runs a halfway house for people recovering from addiction that's sandwiched between two bars on Emancipation.

"You walk out there, and then the first thing you hear is party music. That's a trigger to make them relapse," Davis said.

Councilwoman Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, whose district includes the Third Ward, said officers with the newly formed club squad will be equipped with noise meters to ensure that all music stays within the legal limits.

"We want them to address anything that's related to noise and nightlife, certainly if they're coming down the street and they're blasting their music, that is something that is a concern," Evans-Shabazz said.

However, some question whether the existing laws governing noise have enough teeth.

"There's a problem with the noise ordinance, the amount that they're letting them go, and the times they're letting them go. So that's not gonna change because if they have their noise permit, what's the city going to say?" Tomaro Bell, president of the MacGregor Super Neighborhood, said.

Roy Lizcano, who owns Third Ward Finest Kutz Barbershop on Emancipation, said he welcomes the music and the foot traffic it attracts.

"Everybody that's complaining here, these clubs have been here before they even got here. But it brings in revenue, it brings in money, even for myself," Lizcano said.

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