The first cases under San Diego's new "get tough" policy on noisy neighborhood parties got softer when they got to court. The story from KPBS reporter Alan Ray.
Five San Diego State sophomore girls were the first to be busted under a neighborhood noise reduction pilot program in which police hand out citations with fines of $1,000.
The five live in a house on West Falls View Drive and admit that a birthday party earlier this month drew about 100 people -- about half of them drunk -- and that it was too loud.
But the students who got the citations appealed, telling a judge that fines of $1,000 would be a hardship. The judge cut the fines to about $660.
The Union Tribune reports that people who live in the neighborhood were not pleased, saying the full fine would have sent an important message.
San Diego police, who devised the plan to reduce noise in the Mid City and College area, say they'll continue to issue the $1,000 citations. Police also say they have no problem with the judge's decision, because even the lower fines indicate that courts will support the program.
