In California, the term “Police Code 415” is sometimes used interchangeably with the statute Penal Code 415. Both of these terms refer to the crime of disturbing the peace.
You could get charged with disturbing the peace of you:
- play excessively loud music,
- fight someone, or
- use offensive or threatening language.
The number comes from the state’s Penal Code section for the offense. Disturbing the peace is a wobblette. It can be charged as
- a misdemeanor or as
- an infraction.
The language of the statute reads as follows:
415. Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine:
(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or challenges another person in a public place to fight.
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise.
(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
Disturbing The Peace Explained
Disturbing the peace is an offense that covers any of the following:
- unlawfully fighting someone else in public, or challenging someone else to fight in public,
- maliciously and willfully disturbing someone else by playing a loud and unreasonable noise, or
- using offensive words in public that are likely to provoke an immediate and violent reaction.1
Unlawful fighting
Unlawful fighting is one way to disturb the peace. California prosecutors have to prove the following three elements to secure a conviction for unlawful fighting:
- you willfully and unlawfully fought someone else or challenged someone else to fight,
- you and that other person were in a public place or on school grounds when the fight or challenge occurred, and
- you were not acting in self-defense or in defense of someone else.2
You “willfully” fight someone when you act on purpose or deliberately.3
Playing loud music
Making unreasonable noise can also disturb the peace.4 This often happens by playing excessively loud music.5
Prosecutors have to prove two things beyond a reasonable doubt to secure a conviction in California:
- you willfully and maliciously caused the loud and unreasonable noise, and
- the noise disturbed someone else.6
Using provoking language
Offensive words that are designed to provoke violence can also disturb the peace. The prosecutor has to prove the following elements of the offense:
- you used words that were offensive and inherently likely to provoke an immediate and violent reaction, and
- when you used those words, you were in a public place or on school grounds.7
Importantly, you do not need to intend to provoke a violent response.8
Police Codes Explained
A police code is a shortened description of a particular situation or a potential criminal offense. Police officers use them as radio codes to relay information to other officers. This can help them perform investigations.
The police department will use codes so officers can better prepare for situations while en route. They can also help during stakeouts. For example, 415 is the police code for a suspected disturbance of the peace.9
Penalties
Disturbing the peace is a wobblette in California. These charges can be pursued as either a misdemeanor or as a noncriminal infraction.
If prosecuted as a misdemeanor, the penalties can be up to:
- 90 days in county jail, and/or
- $400 in fines.10
However, if the offense happened on a college or school grounds – and you have a prior conviction for disturbing the peace – the penalties increase to:
- up to 6 months in county jail, and/or
- $1,000 in fines.11
You have to spend at least 10 days in jail in these cases.12 If you have two prior convictions – and the offense happened on school grounds – the mandatory minimum jail sentence is 90 days.13
Best defenses
Several strong legal defenses can be used to combat a charge of disturbing the peace. Some of the most common are:
- self-defense,
- no reasonable belief that the words would lead to a violent reaction, and
- the First Amendment protected the speech.
If you raise the self-defense defense, prosecutors must show beyond a reasonable doubt that you did not act in self-defense.14 To be acting in self-defense, you:
- must have reasonably believed that you were in imminent danger of suffering a bodily injury,
- must have reasonably believed that the immediate use of force was necessary to prevent that bodily injury, and
- used no more force than was reasonably necessary.15
For disturbing the peace charges involving offensive words, it is a legal defense that you reasonably believed your words were not likely to provoke a violent reaction.16
For charges stemming from loud music, noise, or an allegedly offensive statement that provoked violence, it can also be a defense that the statement was constitutionally protected. This can defend speech that was, for example, political or religious in nature.17
Legal References:
- California Penal Code 415 PC.
- California Criminal Jury Instructions (CALCRIM) No. 2688.
- People v. Lara, 44 Cal.App.4th 102 (1996).
- CALCRIM No. 2689.
- Same.
- Same. In order for the noise to adequately disturb someone else to make it illegal, it has to be either: a clear and present danger of immediate violence, or the noise has to be for the purpose of disrupting lawful activities, and not as a means to communicate. You only act “maliciously” if you acted with the intent to: do something wrongful, or injure or annoy someone else.
- CALCRIM No. 2690. Words are inherently likely to provoke an immediate and violent reaction if: you said something that was reasonably likely to provoke someone else to react violently, and when you made the statement, there was a clear and present danger that the other person would immediately erupt into violence.
- Same.
- Same. Similar police codes are for specific types of disturbances, like:
- 415b, for an unknown type of disturbance,
- 415c, for a disturbance of the peace where children are involved,
- 415d, for a disturbance involving someone who is drunk or under the influence,
- 415e, for a loud party or music that is disturbing the peace,
- 415f, for disturbances involving a family, and
- 415g, for gang-related disturbances of the peace.
Additionally, the 415 code is common with other police codes. Many of these mirror the Penal Code section that describes the crime. Some do not, though:
- 216 (child abuse – Penal Code 273(d) PC),
- 245 (assault with a deadly weapon – Penal Code 245(a)(1) PC),
- 273a (child neglect – Penal Code 270 PC),
- 314 (indecent exposure – Penal Code 314 PC),
- 417 (brandishing a firearm – Penal Code 417 PC),
- 487 (grand theft – Penal Code 487 PC),
- 488 (petty theft – Penal Code 488 PC),
- 502 (drunk driving (DUI) – Vehicle Code 23152 VC),
- 503 (auto theft – Penal Code 487(d)(1) PC),
- 505 (reckless driving – Vehicle Code 23103 VC),
- 507 (public nuisance – Penal Code 372 PC),
- 594 (malicious mischief to a motor vehicle or vandalism – Vehicle Code 10853 VC),
- 602 (trespassing – Penal Code 602 PC), and
- 647 (lewd conduct in public – Penal Code 647 PC).
Not all police codes are for crimes, though. Some police codes are meant to relay important information back to the police department and to other law enforcement officers. These include codes like:
- 10-7, for officers who are out of service,
- 10-14, for a suspicious person,
- 10-21, for an officer who is available for a phone call,
- 10-37, for a suspicious vehicle,
- 10-57, for a hit-and-run accident or a missing person,
- 10-64, for found property,
- 10-70, for a fire alarm or a prowler,
- 10-79, for a bomb threat, and
- 11-99, for when a peace officer needs help.
- California Penal Code 415 PC. Prosecutors will decide how to pursue the charge based on: the specific facts of the case, and your criminal history.
- California Penal Code 415.5(b) PC.
- Same. You are not allowed to be released on probation until you have served this time.
- California Penal Code 415.5(c) PC.
- People v. Banks, 67 Cal.App.3d 379 (1976).
- CALCRIM No. 3470.
- In re John V., 167 Cal.App.3d 761 (1985).
- See, for example, Rosenbaum v. City and County of San Francisco, 484 F.3d 1142 (9th Cir. 2007).
