Santa Barbara Police Chief Responds to Illegal Fireworks Issue

By Lauren Bray, edhat staff

Santa Barbara’s Chief of Police sent council members an update on their actions to curb illegal firework demonstrations following citizen complaints.

Online forums such as edhat and Nextdoor.com have been flooded with posts and comments regarding late-night fireworks in several neighborhoods.

Many people in the Westside and Eastside neighborhoods complain about being woken up at all hours of the night to “window-rattling booms” and their pets cowering in fear. The discussion also mentions the possiblity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) responses and the sheer annoyance of it all. 

Numerous comments urge residents to contact their council members and ask for an update on what could be done to solve the issue.

Oscar Gutierrez, Santa Barbara City Councilmember for the Westside neighborhood, responded on Nextdoor.com by thanking residents for reaching out and provided an email sent to the council from the Chief of Police, Bernard Melekian.

Melekian stated the city’s police and fire departments responded to fireworks calls on July 4th, although a vast majority of their resources between 2:00 p.m. and midnight were focused on crowd and traffic control along the waterfront area. Security sweeps were also conducted on buildings with significant elevation and several waterfront hotels were visited. 

“Every 4th of July the volume of fireworks calls far exceeds the resources that are available to respond to them. We try to respond to the most egregious calls and keep as many units as possible available to respond to other major incidents. As a resident of the city, I was certainly aware as late as 3:00 AM that there were still being fireworks set off. As has happened in years past, it appears that the amount of fireworks being exploded has diminished over the last couple of days,” Melekian stated in his email. 

From the afternoon of July 4th to the early morning of July 5th, there were 76 total calls for service regarding fireworks.

Below is the breakdown of those calls:

• 16 calls for fire inspectors responded to the area
• 51 Be on the lookout (BOLO) to all police department units working, officers responding to the areas as other higher priority calls permitted
• 22 calls for police who responded to area and cleared due to suspects “gone on arrival” or unable to locate the specific location
• 2 calls cleared for issuing a warning
• 1 call cleared with a referral to juvenile diversion
• 3 calls cleared with citations issued
• 1 call cleared with a suspicious circumstance report and premises check
• 1 call cleared with adomestic disturbance report and premises check
• 1 call cleared with a check on the welfare of juveniles
   

With the list of calls and responses posted, residents weighed in with their thoughts. 

“I hate to be a pessimist but that list is gibberish to me and the letter says absolutely nothing about how to resolve the issue or even attempt to resolve,” one person wrote. “I am hearing and seeing fireworks even now, two days after July fourth, just as I was for the previous week…,” another stated.

While it appears law enforcement is responding to calls for illegal fireworks, it’s unclear how this problem can truly be solved, or at least appease frustrated residents.