San Diego Police are starting to hand out tickets to residents making excessive noise in the college area.
The tickets aren't cheap -- they come with a price tag of $1,000 per tenant on the lease -- and you don't even need to be home during the party to get fined.
Mid-City Captain Guy Swanger says a flood of complaints about large parties became too much for a shrinking police department to handle. Swanger wants the new fines to send a strong message to tenants.
Swanger : If we respond to a call and there's five, six, seven kids, and they're just playing their music too loud and you can tell they're just getting together, we're going to tell them to turn their music down. But if we show up and there is a party going on and there are 30, 40 individuals and their music is playing and people are coming and going, and there's people out front drinking -- they're going to get a fine.
Swanger says, bottom line: college students need to be good neighbors. That's something SDSU junior John Manente takes to heart. He lives with four other students in this mini-dorm on 54th street in the college area.
Manente : We live next to a family, but we also take out their trash as well. If they tell us to be quiet, we definitely give them respect in hopes that they give us respect. And they do as well.
Manente's house has been “capped” by the police. This means officers have been called to the home twice within a thirty day period. A third police visit will mean a $1,000 fine, plus arrest. Residents of 21 homes in the mid-city area are running the same risk.
Manente says they've stopped big parties at his house, but offers this plea on behalf of students.
Manente : We mean no harm. Go easy on us.
People who get tickets have ten days to either pay the fine or appeal before facing an additional penalty.
