Fireworks complaints soared in Sacramento this year. See which neighborhoods had the most
It wasn’t your imagination.
There were more fireworks this year in Sacramento.
A lot more.
The Sacramento Police Department received more than six times more fireworks complaints this June compared to June 2019, according to data The Sacramento Bee received from a California Public Records Act request.
From June 1 through June 25, 2019, the department received 177 fireworks complaints citywide. For the same time period in June 2020, that number soared to 1,120.
In the district that includes East Sacramento, Oak Park and Tahoe Park, there were 269 complaints in that time period – an average of more than 10 calls per night. Every police district had 144 complaints or more, with the exception of the central city, which only received 19.
Here is the breakdown of the 2020 complaints by police district:
1. East Sacramento, Oak Park, Tahoe Park (District 6) - 269 complaints
2. Meadowview, Parkway, North Laguna, Valley Hi (District 5) - 258 complaints
3. North Sacramento (District 2) - 243 complaints
4. Curtis Park, Land Park, Pocket/Greenhaven (District 4) - 183 complaints
5. Natomas (District 1) - 144 complaints
6. Downtown, midtown (District 3) - 19 complaints
7. Unknown - 4 complaints
It’s illegal to shoot off fireworks in the city, except those with the state’s “safe and sane” seal, and only from June 28 to July 5 each year, according to the city code.
Shooting off a firework or any explosive is punishable by a misdemeanor charge. Police typically would give a violator a citation to appear in court.
When a fireworks complaint comes in, Sacramento police officers try to go to the scene, depending on what other higher priority calls are coming in at the time, but it can be difficult to issue a citation for fireworks, police spokesman Officer Karl Chan said.
Because it’s a misdemeanor, police have to be present to observe the fireworks going off, or have someone willing to press charges, Chan said. Often the person complaining is a neighbor, making them hesitant to press charges, Chan said.
City Councilman Larry Carr, who represents Meadowview, Parkway, Valley Hi and North Laguna, said he received a lot of calls from residents complaining about fireworks, including people whose dogs were scared and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Carr held a virtual neighborhood meeting on the topic during which residents, police and fire department officials discussed what can be done, but ran into the issue of neighbors being hesitant to report people they know, he said.
“What you’re doing is calling the police on your neighbor and people were afraid of the repercussions from that,” Carr said.
Councilman Eric Guerra has asked city staff to come up with recommendations to address the problem – anything from banning fireworks altogether to setting a fee on purchasing legal fireworks, he said.
Last year, the city saw fewer complaints after going after illegal firework sellers ahead of time, but this year, the coronavirus pandemic prevented those efforts, Guerra said.
People were buying the illegal fireworks in bulk online, then selling them in the neighborhoods, Guerra said.
“There was a guy with an entire garage full of them across the street from Hiram Johnson High School,” Guerra said.
Guerra suggested code enforcement officers could respond to fireworks complaints.
“In this conversation of use of police officers, do we really want police officers playing whack a mole to chase down fireworks?” Guerra said.
South Sacramento residents came to a similar conclusion; they said the fire department should respond to fireworks complaints instead of the police department in the future, Carr said. That would decrease citizens’ interactions with police during a national movement against police brutality.
On the Fourth of July this year, the Sacramento Fire Department responded to dozens of fires, some of which were started by fireworks. Multiple fires burned in a Meadowview field near the 7900 block of Tantura Way after fireworks sparked the dry grass.
Fireworks complaints skyrocketed in cities across the cities this summer. For the first six months of the year, New York City received 24,000 complaints, compared to 1,100 for the same time period last year, The Washington Post reported. For one week in June, Denver received 750 complaints, which was more than 10 times the amount they had for the same week the year prior.
