Two days after the 4th of July, the illegal fireworks shows continue in Lompoc with local police saying no citations or arrests have been made.
Lompoc residents know all too well that when summer rolls around, their city’s sky becomes the backdrop for countless illegal fireworks.
“They started days before 4th of July shooting off fireworks and they went all the way through,” said Lompoc resident Roy Baca. “At 4 o’clock in the morning, I was still hearing them.”
The Lompoc Police Department says since June 4, their dispatch has received 327 calls from the community reporting illegal fireworks with 92 calls coming in on the 4th of July alone.
“Police can do whatever they want. I don’t think there is going to be any stopping it,” said resident Adrian Lopez Ibarra. “It has been happening for so long and there hasn’t been any change.”
Lompoc police admit there are obstacles they encounter in their illegal fireworks enforcement.
“That I’m aware of, we haven’t been able to catch anybody in the act,” said Sgt. Sergio Arias, Lompoc Police Department.
Sgt. Arias says that even though Lompoc police are on constant patrol through city streets, they can’t give out citations or make arrests unless they see the fireworks physically being set off.
“You get a general location of where the fireworks coming, sometimes we do get a specific address and we will go investigate it,” Arias added. “It is kind of hard because you have to see that person in the act or in possession of an illegal firework.”
For now, Arias says his department does not have any plans to begin using drones for illegal fireworks enforcement like other Central Coast cities did this year.
