Salinas police arrest or cite 13 for illegal fireworks

UPDATE 7/5/2016 6:30 PM:

A blanket ban on fireworks in Salinas isn’t stopping people from turning the city into a war zone on the Fourth of July. Salinas police confiscated illegal fireworks in 30 separate cases. Thirteen people were either arrested or cited because of fireworks.

Fire Marshal Sam Klemek says between Friday and Monday, there were some 550 reports of illegal fireworks use or sales. That’s not including 911 calls made. The reports were all electronic, sent via email, by text or through mobile apps.

“I would call it a success just by virtue of the fact of the number of reports we received,” Klemek said. “Definitely far exceeded the numbers we’ve gotten in the past.”

Despite the number of reports, Salinas police officers and fire personnel say they felt the Fourth of July was quieter than in years past. Top brass has been preparing for weeks and planned to have double the manpower. Despite having more boots on the ground, authorities weren’t able to cite everyone right away. But with the specific information obtained through citizen-generated reports, they can go back and investigate, and if needed, issue citations.

“In many cases we did get photographs, we got license plate numbers, and we have specific addresses,” Klemek said. “So what our task is now is to go back and verify those, match them with police reports where police were able to go out and verify or our units were able to verify the activity, they will be sent notices of violation in the mail.”

Salinas resident Brian Day said he called the non-emergency line and 911 to report illegal fireworks in his neighborhood and it took hours for a response.

“They did take a report and they said they would send somebody out,” Day said. “The last time I checked, which was about 10 o’clock, I still hadn’t seen any police come by and I gave them specifics, where and what was going on.”

But the process to confiscate and cite someone with illegal fireworks is time consuming.

“They don’t just do it and move onto the next call,” Salinas Deputy Chief Dave Shaw said. “They have to process the fireworks, they have to get transported because they still are dangerous we can’t just throw them into the trunk of the car and drive around with them.”

Day’s wife finally texted the anonymous tip line. Theoretically, her message will be investigated by authorities.

One day later, Day is still fired up, saying it’s a community effort to curb illegal fireworks.

“It’s deeper than what the police can handle and they’re doing a tough job,” Day said. “They have a really hard job, as is the fire department. They were out in a little bit of force last night too but it’s really down to the neighbors. They have to be a little more respectful too… It’s against the law. They’re breaking the law.”

ORIGINAL POST:

Salinas Police tell KION they arrested or cited 13 people for the use of illegal fireworks during the July 4th weekend.

Fire officials are still counting, but say they received 550 reports of illegal fireworks between July 1-4, more than in any previous year. On Tuesday, the department began issuing notices of violation to confirmed offenders. There is a $1,250 fine for anyone caught using illegal fireworks in Salinas.

Tonight at 5 and 6 p.m., KION’s Mariana Hicks will show us how new tools such as fireworks-reporting apps led to the increase in reports.