City leaders in Los Angeles are so committed to reducing the use of illegal fireworks during July Fourth weekend, they’re knocking on doors to ask residents to abstain.
“The Los Angeles Police Department and our office have been going door-to-door in neighborhoods where fireworks have been set off illegally to deter people to doing it in the future,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said.
Feuer told KNX In-Depth that the personal approach is just one of the methods authorities are employing.
“There are a whole battery of things that are happening now, which in combination I think will make an impact,” he said. “What we’re doing is a novel approach that I think is already paying dividends.”
Earlier this month, Feuer’s office sent cease-and-desist letters to major online platforms that were hosting fireworks advertisements.
“Each of those platforms have cooperated with us and taken down hundreds of sites where people are offering illegal fireworks,” Feuer said. “I know there are fewer offers for sale this year than there were in the past.”
“One reason we’re going after the supply this way, is that it’s hard for LAPD come in after the fact and identify someone who has illegally set off some fireworks,” Feuer noted.
“We will never be able to fully eliminate illegal fireworks this way. But we are clamping down on the supply in a meaningful way.”
On the Fourth of July, residents are encouraged to call LAPD and report illegal fireworks displays.
“Taking this issue seriously is so important,” Feuer said. “There is a community interest in going to professional fireworks events and not setting them off yourself and endangering your neighborhood, your next door neighbor or your whole community.”