According to recent news reports, the Anchorage Police Department has not given a citation for illegal use of fireworks on July 4 for the past three years. The department’s spokesperson explained that officers don’t give citations because the department’s goal is simply to secure compliance with the ordinance prohibiting fireworks in the municipality.
That explanation makes little sense. Presumably the department’s goal is to secure compliance with all Anchorage ordinances. But the department issues citations for violations of other ordinances, such as parking, traffic and firearms violations. And issuing citations is much more likely to secure compliance with the fireworks prohibition than simply contacting the violators and telling them to comply. With no threat of receiving citations, folks know that they can set off fireworks with impunity; the worst that will happen is that the police will show up and tell them to stop.
I care about the fireworks issue because the noise of fireworks terrifies my dog. He’s a rescue and apparently had a rough life before I got him. As I have done in prior years, I had to evacuate my house the evenings of July 3-4 this year because the noise of fireworks was frightening him. I spent both evenings parked in a remote pullout outside Anchorage, returning to my home well after midnight both days. I should not have to leave my house to avoid the noise of others’ illegal activity.
Now that the public knows that the department has not been issuing citations for fireworks violations, the situation will only get worse unless the department very publicly changes its enforcement policy. I urge the department to make that change and widely publicize the change before New Year’s Eve and next Independence Day.
— Dave Jones
Anchorage
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