Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office increases patrols Sunday night
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office has a bigger roll call on today for the Fourth of July holiday.
According to the sheriff's office, they have increased patrols to help safely monitor the area Sunday into the evening. Staff would like residents to enjoy the holiday, but also stay safe.
The Fourth of July is the first major holiday since California reopened last month with the fewest COVID-19 restrictions since the pandemic began.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during this holiday, they see an uptick in impaired driving crashes nationwide. "From 2015 to 2019, there were 1,339 drivers killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes over the Fourth of July holiday period — 38% of the drivers killed were drunk," said the NHTSA on their website.
Santa Cruz County is also trying to stave off illegal firework use, especially over concerns about dry conditions potentially starting fires if a wayward firework causes it. You can read more about the county's effort ahead of the holiday weekend here.
About 1,100 illegal fireworks have been seized so far, according to the county.
