No Arrests Or Citations After 87 Fireworks Calls July 4: LPD

LIVERMORE, CA — The city of Livermore said it is looking into options for better enforcement of fireworks violations.

The Livermore Police Department said last week in a Facebook post that it received 87 calls for service related to illegal fireworks on the 4th of July, but were “unable to write citations because of how the city ordinance is currently written.”

Although the Livermore Municipal Code Chapter 9.40 bans the sale, possession, or use of any type of fireworks within city limits, police and firefighters are only allowed to seize fireworks “offered or exposed for sale, stored, possessed, transported, or otherwise in violation of this chapter.”

Police say the “offered or exposed” wording prevents them from making arrests, despite police “constantly patrolling the streets.

“Often times, police will go to the general location of the fireworks and the people responsible disperse or no one in the neighborhood can identify who lit the firework. It then becomes more of an opportunity to educate individuals about the use of fireworks rather than write citations,” the department said.

“We know fireworks enforcement is not working well,” Livermore Police Chief Jeramy Young said in a statement. “We are exploring ways to address the problem including crafting a stronger, more enforceable ordinance.”

The city of Livermore and the LPD issued a joint statement to Patch: “We understand the community’s concerns and know that the illegal use of fireworks is a Bay Area-wide problem. The City of Livermore is assessing various options to allow for better enforcement of fireworks violations and will be bringing this matter before the City Council upon concluding research.”

Though fireworks are illegal in Livermore, state-approved ‘safe and sane’ fireworks are legal in Dublin, and some residents called on the city to stop its sales in comments to the post.

“Any chance we can put pressure on Dublin to stop selling fireworks?” one commenter wrote. “It is ridiculous that they continue that practice when it is illegal in the area and we have a multi year drought. We have an issue with fireworks being lit off in the park by my house every year. Calls to PD rarely do anything. I wonder if undercover police could hang at the parks and them cite the idiots who are setting off bombs so large they shake the houses.”

After the 4th of July, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said it responded to 160 calls related to illegal fireworks, and seized over 400 pounds of illegal fireworks. In Pleasanton, illegal fireworks sparked a fence fire. A representative for the Pleasanton Police Department told Patch that police received 45 calls for fireworks, but no arrests or citations were made.