Manteca police will use fleet of drones to crack down on illegal fireworks
MANTECA — The Manteca Police Department is using seven high-tech drones on the Fourth of July to try and crack down on anyone using illegal fireworks within city limits.
Last year, the department used two drones, but now there will be more than three times that many being the eyes in the sky for any illegal fireworks popping off.
"It teaches people, when you used to go outside and look left and look right, now you have to look up, and decide, maybe illegal fireworks aren't good anymore and dispose of them," said Manteca Police Sergeant Steve Beermann.
The drones fly up to 400 feet high and can cover the entire city in just a couple of minutes. Police say this is changing the way they crack down on illegal fireworks.
"For the properties where these are occurring, we don't have to show up and hand you a citation on the day that it's occurring If we have the footage and we know what property this is occurring at, they take action," Beermann said.
Each offense is costly. Police are citing homeowners $1,000 per firework.
Last year, there were 30 citations and 93 warnings. The Manteca Fire Department said they responded to 17 firework-related fires last year, and they're hoping that number drops this year.