Seaside Police release preliminary 4th of July enforcement numbers

A successful fireworks show for Seaside, one the city hopes to continue, but the night also had another goal in mind.

The city hoped the fireworks show would help limit the number of people using illegal fireworks at home.

They didn’t have final numbers Thursday but the Chief did have a breakdown of the calls they got and the tickets they gave out.

Seaside police received 167 calls related to fireworks on the 4th of July. They don’t have numbers from last year but that is an increase from 2016 when they got 134 calls.

Twenty-two tickets were also given out and that’s a huge jump from 2016 when they only gave out one.

The chief says technology is what helped them catch so many people breaking the rules.

“That drone was able to pinpoint locations where fireworks were being deployed, illegal fireworks,” said Chief Abdul Pridgen with the Seaside Police Department, “Officers were able to swoop into those locations and cite the people responsible for those illegal fireworks.”

The chief says they’re still reviewing the video captured by the drone and may be giving out more fines.

The final numbers from police won’t be out until September.

The city hasn’t decided whether it’ll have the fireworks show next year.

They chief does say they will continue to use the technology and likely add more staff as well.