Operation Beech

A police patrol dedicated to student noise, paid for by the University of Bristol and available on selected nights.

The patrol operates only at certain times—usually Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, between 8pm and 2am. Texts sent outside these times will not be responded to. In the past (though not at the time of writing), dates of operation have been advertised on this UoB web page: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/community/complaints.html. It's worth checking to see if the dates are posted there.

Officially, the patrol prioritises incidents in the following areas (see map below): Chandos / Waverley , Manor Park, Ashgrove Rd, Highbury Villas, Eaton Crescent and Arlington Villas. This omits some other hotspots such as High Kingsdown. Unofficially, officers appear willing to respond to requests from other areas, though at busy times it may be they will focus on the "official" list.

To contact Beech, send a text to 07773 816248.

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The following are my suggestions, based on how Beech has operated to date. If there is any discrepancy between this page and any UoB page, follow the UoB instructions unless otherwise indicated.

What to send in your text

Beech generally responds to complaints about an address—be as precise as possible. Keep texts short and polite, eg "Large party at 16 Main Street. We asked them to turn it down but still loud. Can you assist, thank you, John".

Notes

I suggest you don't wait too long to contact Beech if it's clear a loud, late party is under way—Beech finishes at 2am. Student parties tend not to ramp up until around 11pm but if everyone waits till after midnight to react, Beech will suddenly be swamped and will have only a two-hour window in which to respond.
You may not know for certain if the people causing noise are students, or students with UoB as opposed to another institution. If you have good reason to think they are students and the address is in an area where UoB students live, you would be justified in contacting Beech. The officers will verify identities if they attend.
Even if the officers don't shut the party down (and often they don't), their attendance will often help calm things down, plus their report may identify who was involved and provide independent evidence that a noise event took place. This will support any complaint you might subsequently make to the university.
You won't necessarily get a reply text or other response from the officers. However, the university may follow up with some complainants the next day.
Officers may not attend all incidents at busy times. They can also be called away by the police control room to deal with emergencies.
Beech will report its activities to UoB, which will deal with incidents under its disciplinary code in the same way as if they had been reported by a resident.
My advice is that even if you have called Beech and the officers dealt with the incident to your satisfaction, you should still submit a complaint email to UoB the following day. Reason: Beech officers will not know what happened before they arrived on the scene, or after they left. Your complaint can fill in these details and feedback on Beech may be useful to the police/UoB.
If a noise disturbance continues or resumes after Beech has attended, you can text again, but there is no guarantee Beech will revisit (especially if they discovered that the people involved were not students). However, your complaint email to UoB can cover this situation.
To reiterate—texts outside the hours and days of operation will not be answered.

September 2023

The noise pages

Operation Beech