Editorial: Fireworks ban

If city commissioners plan to keep a fireworks ban on the books, they need to make sure enforcement is strong enough to deter offenses.

Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

Fourteen years after it was implemented, the existence and enforcement of a fireworks ban in Lawrence still isn’t a settled issue.

Tonight, the fireworks ban once again is on the Lawrence City Commission agenda. Although there still seems to be some support around Lawrence for dropping the ban, the primary focus of tonight’s discussion will be on how vigorously the city wants to enforce the law.

Enforcement has had its ups and downs, according to a report provided to commissioners. In the last eight years, the number of fireworks complaints received by Lawrence police during the July 4 holiday period ranged from a low of 189 in 2013 to a high of 261 last year. From 2008 to 2013, police issued four or fewer citations during the holiday each year. In 2014, enforcement was stepped up and the number of citations rocketed to 44.

The stricter enforcement apparently didn’t create much of a deterrent because the number of calls police received rose from 226 in 2014 to 261 in 2015. However, although police confiscated more fireworks in 2015, they issued just nine citations.

It’s difficult to enforce the ban, police say, because it’s hard to catch offenders in the act. Issuing a formal complaint also requires police to file an arrest report, as well as photograph, seize and process evidence. All of this also needs to happen on a holiday in which police receive more than the normal number of calls for other services. Providing tighter enforcement, police say, would require added resources.

Proponents of tighter enforcement currently are concerned about the impact of fireworks on local veterans, but many residents also support the ban because of the impact of fireworks on their pets and property. It seems unlikely that the ban will go away because its mere existence is a significant deterrent to fireworks use and it allows the city to prosecute at least the most flagrant offenders.

Finding the sweet spot for enforcing the fireworks ban won’t be easy. The fact that police issued 44 citations in 2014, leading to 39 convictions, indicates that it’s not impossible to hold people accountable for fireworks violations. Maybe city commissioners will accept something less than the 2014 effort, but they need to keep in mind that if enforcement becomes too lax, they might as well not have the fireworks ban on the books.