Police and Fire Department Response to Fireworks

In the days leading up to Independence Day, the City of Santa Clara utilized a variety of platforms and resources to communicate multiple messages about the inherent dangers of fireworks to property and bystanders, as well as how their use is inconsiderate to fellow residents.

The Police Department also made contact with residences that have been problematic with illegal fireworks in prior years.

Today, the Police and Fire Departments are performing proactive roving patrols in the early evening throughout the city to serve as a deterrent to participating in illegal activity.

Deployment of public safety resources for fireworks-related incidents is a challenge for a variety of reasons, including:

• There are competing resources for more urgent priority calls for service. Public Safety Dispatchers will always deploy public safety personnel according to the severity of the incident based on the preliminary nature of the call, with those calls requiring an immediate response first (e.g. medical emergency, crime in progress, traffic collision, etc.)
  
  
• There is not any sort of detection technology to identify hotspots for fireworks use. Sound waves reverberate and travel quite some distance so identifying the exact location of the source of the illegal activity is a significant challenge. In some cases, the illegal activity in taking place in a neighboring jurisdiction. As a result, it is incredibly difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the illegal activity without a location being provided
  
  
• Often times the illegal fireworks activity is no longer occurring when the officer arrives

While Police and Fire Department personnel cannot respond to every fireworks noise related call, public safety personnel will prioritize our response to ensure the public's safety today and every day.