When two police officers knocked on the door of a College Areahouse during a party last September, the residents were scared.

“I was afraid we were going to get arrested or something,” Katie*,a resident of the house and a business senior, said. “But they gaveus a warning. We were more careful about our parties after that.”

What Katie and her roommates did not know was that if they hadbeen warned by the police again within the next 30 days, their housecould have been CAPPed — meaning it would be shut down for noisyparties for one year.

The College Area Party Plan is a program that started in 1995 toaddress noise-related problems around campus.

It was started in conjunction with the mid-city division and theCollege Area Community Council, a community based group that meetsonce a month and deals with issues in the College Area, such as loudparties and alcohol-related problems, Bill Taitano, communityrelations officer for the San Diego Police Department, said.

Since last August, 10 houses in the College Area have been CAPPed.A total of 26 houses are currently CAPPed.

“There is qualitative evidence — comments from neighbors andpolice — that the program is having a positive impact,” John Clapp,director of the Collegiate Community Alcohol Prevention Program,said.

The program focuses on houses, either rented or owned, in theCollege Area. There are several ways, including the situation above,in which a home can be CAPPed.

The first, in the case of a house that is constantly having noisyparties, is that the community members have five neighbors sign apetition to have a house CAPPed. Taitano goes over the petition andlooks at how many calls have come in complaining about the house. Ifit fits the criteria of being a chronically noisy location, the housegets CAPPed.

Second, if officers respond to a noise violation and are met withviolence from partygoers, the house is under an automatic CAPP.

Finally, if any serious crimes are committed at a party, such as afight that escalates to a stabbing, the house will be CAPPed.

When a home is CAPPed, residents are notified either in person orthrough a letter. The owner of the property, if it is rented, is alsotold the house has been CAPPed. If the residents move out before theyear-long party restriction is over, the house remains CAPPed.

If residents in a house on the CAPP list have a party during therestriction that police have to respond to, they can be arrested fordisturbing the peace. There is also a municipal code that says ifnoise can be heard more than 50 feet from the property line, theviolators can be arrested.

According to Taitano, the program has been successful in reducingnoise violation-related calls in the College Area.

“At least 90 percent of the houses that are CAPPed will abide byit, they don’t want to face arrest,” he said. “Property owners havetypically said, ‘If they continue to have problems, I’ll evictthem.'”

However, residents should avoid having their home CAPPed byremembering to be responsible and courteous, he said.

“Most of the people who are long-term residents in the CollegeArea tell me they don’t mind if students are having a party,” hesaid. “The community gets upset about loud parties that go past 2 inthe morning.

“It’s not that they don’t want students to have parties, it’s justabout being a considerate neighbor.”

Clapp had similar advice for students.

First, he said, keep the size of the party small. Talk toneighbors and let them know about the party. Keep music and noise ata reasonable level. Tell guests to keep their voices down when theyleave the party and walk to their cars.

“Finally, control the amount of alcohol being served — the hostshould monitor how much people are drinking,” he said.

“Things get out of control and loud when there are a lot of drunkstudents at a party. Serving food, limiting the amount of alcohol atthe party and not allowing drinking games are all ways to keep thingsunder control.”

*Last name has been withheld.