Santa Cruz Police: Calm start to the New Year

A calm welcome to the new year in Santa Cruz. The police department says additional officers were on the streets throughout the city making sure everyone started the new year safely. Between 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 5 a.m. New Year’s Day police responded to 160 calls for service, about the same as last year, but arrests and tickets were down from the start of 2016. Santa Cruz Police say 12 people were arrested, mostly for public intoxication, compared to 28 arrests last year. Nineteen tickets were given out, 11 of them for triple fines, compared to 53 tickets issued last year. About 2,000 people came out to the Town Clock for the city sponsored Countdown Celebration, about 1,500 fewer people than last year.