By Mike Hazlip–
Independence Day Weekend was a busy time for Citrus Heights police, as officers responded to 189 calls related to fireworks and reports of gun shots throughout the city.
Citrus Heights Police Commander Jason Russo outlined the weekend’s final tally in a presentation to the City Council on Thursday.
The department’s statistics show little change from last year in total calls for service related to fireworks, with 192 total calls in 2019. Over half the calls fielded by police came between 8:30 and 11:30 p.m., police said.
Arrests for driving under the influence also remained unchanged from 2019 totals, with three DUI arrests, although traffic stops saw a 38% drop from 2019 levels.
Russo reported police contacted a large group of 20 individuals using illegal fireworks near Longford Drive and Cavan Drive. He said an individual on LeMans Avenue lost some fingers using illegal fireworks.
One structure fire was reported over the Fourth of July weekend, but police said it was not related to fireworks.
Police deployed additional officers over the weekend and an arson investigator was present during patrols through a partnership with Sacramento Metro Fire Department. An aerial drone was also deployed to aid officers.
Councilwoman Jeannie Bruins said in comments following Russo’s report that police were more proactive this year in curbing illegal fireworks use, but said a larger scale response is still needed.
“It’s become such an overwhelming problem that it kinda ruins the 4th of July, particularly for those of us who are pet owners,” said Bruins. “This is something that really has to be addressed on a greater scale than just within our city.”
Bruins has previously suggested that police look into working with the California Highway Patrol to see if screening for out-of-state imports of illegal fireworks around the Fourth of July could be conducted at the state border, in a similar way that is currently done for fruit.
A number of illegal fireworks in the days leading up to and including July 4 were confiscated by police in Citrus Heights, although no arrests were made.
Police Chief Ron Lawrence previously told the council that the city’s fireworks ordinance, which bans aerial and explosive varieties of fireworks, is difficult for officers to enforce.
“The enforcement of this becomes a real challenge because when we get complaints of fireworks in progress, more often than not, by the time we arrive, they’ve already been expended,” he told the council during a prior report on fireworks enforcement. “And then, if those are still in progress, there’s typically 20 or 30 people standing around watching, so we have to prove who actually did the ignition.”
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