Hello,
Since many citizens (of all ages) believe they are entitled to setting off fireworks regardless of the law and safety issues, the Wheat Ridge Police Department works with local fire departments on an operations plan specific to fireworks and the Fourth of July holiday. Calls related to fireworks received by the Wheat Ridge Police Department are prioritized, and the first available officer is dispatched using the following standards
:
- Firework calls involving injury or property damage
- Firework complaints of an emergent nature, i.e. children present, hazardous areas, fireworks in the greenbelt, etc.
- Firework complaints where the name of the person illegally using the fireworks is known or can be identified
- Frequency of calls to a specific location involving the same person(s).
- All other calls not meeting the above criteria are aired for officers to respond to based on the call load.
The Police Department committed additional personnel to staffing the Patrol Operations Division during this holiday weekend. On Friday July 4th, and Saturday July 5th the department scheduled two (2) additional officers on overtime to assist with the call load. This was in addition to the normal compliment of officers assigned for regular patrol duties. These officers were assigned to work from 8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
During this time frame, the department had approximately 13-14 patrol officers working, as well as two supervisors.
During the Fourth of July holiday, the department handled 544 calls for service, 80 of these were firework complaints. One (1) of these calls for service was related to a fire directly related to the illegal use of fireworks.
I want to commend the work of the Wheat Ridge Police Department over the 4th of July weekend and remind citizens that the improper use of fireworks places public safety first responders at unnecessary risk due to emergency response to complaints attributed to the illegal use of fireworks.
Mayor Jerry DiTullio
Wheat Ridge
303.235.2800