San Mateo County Sheriff's Office cracks down on illegal fireworks
SAN MATEO - The Fourth of July is still a few days away, but fireworks -- some legal and some not -- are already going off in Bay Area neighborhoods.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is taking steps they hope will lower the amount of fireworks-related calls they get on the 4th.
"This year, we plan on sending out extra patrols as we have done in the past, but we have some new initiatives to try to crackdown on the illegal use of fireworks, and illegal fireworks," said Sgt. Phillip Hallworth. "The Fourth of July is usually one of our busiest nights for calls for service."
For the first time ever, the Sheriff's Office held a fireworks buyback event where they paid people to turn in their fireworks, no questions asked.
"We received nearly 400 pounds of fireworks. Some of those were really dangerous ones, like mortars, aerial rockets that shoot up into the sky and you don't know where you land, someone even turned in some military-grade smoke grenades," Hallworth said.
Aside from the extra patrols, there will be steeper fines for violators, according to Hallworth.
"It's always been about a $1,000 fine for anyone caught for illegal use of fireworks. But now, there are a couple of new fines that I think people should pay attention to," Hallworth said. "It's up to $2,000 in certain situations, and a $500 fine for anyone caught spectating the illegal use of these fireworks."
Last year, the Sheriff's Office responded to 103 fireworks-related calls within their jurisdiction - unincorporated San Mateo County. No citations were issued on the Fourth, but deputies issued verbal warnings, according to the Hallworth. The law enforcement agency did seize 15,000 pounds of fireworks and around $1,000,000 in cash in anticipation of the Fourth of July, last year, says Hallworth.
"The sheriff's office is going to be as proactive and reactive as we can be. Sometimes, we can't get there as quickly as we can because we're dealing with other kinds of calls for service throughout the night. It's the Fourth of July, but we still have our responsibilities to every other type of incident or action that is occurring in the county," he said. "We'll do what we can, but we do have to ask the community to help out where they can, too."
Despite their designation, 'safe and sane' fireworks are prohibited in most parts of the county.
"If you do decide to celebrate and you're in a city that permits the use of fireworks, just do so safely," Hallworth said. "Buy fireworks from authorized distributors, have a bucket of water around that's ready to go. If there are children that are celebrating or handling fireworks, use parental supervision."