Oakley Chief: No Firework Shows Until Society Gets Sense of Law and Order

On Tuesday, Oakley Police Chief Paul Beard provided an overview of the city’s fireworks suppression program which resulted in 6 individuals who will be receiving a $1k fine.

However, Beard was challenged by Councilmember Anissa Williams about what it would take to bring back a fireworks show for residents. She also called for the state to make legislative changes around fireworks while noting the Brentwood drone show was a “public safety nightmare” and how if anything happened it would be difficult to get anyone there to where she admitted to driving onto a sidewalk just to get out of the area. She also said the Freedom Basin is not an ideal spot either and poses a public safety concern.

“As far as fireworks show, can we all remember a time when taking our kids to a fireworks show was safe? When there was a sense of law and order. I do. It was wonderful. I personally love fireworks shows. I truly do. But until the State and until society gets a sense of what law and order really is. I think any public event runs the risk of being a disaster and I don’t want to cower from criminals, I don’t want to hide from criminals. I don’t want to withhold services or withhold good times for our community because of criminals. But I think we have to take a very measured response to what we do for our community.”

He agreed the Freedom Basin was not an ideal location for an event because you are putting a group of people into a bowl and it’s a compromised position if there is ever an attack.

Beard also brought up the 55-acre park, but there was no assessment, but his knee jerk reaction was it was not a good location due to access of getting people out and emergency services in.

He shared if they do host another fireworks show, which he hopes society can get there again, Oakley Police has to dedicate resources to ensure a safe environment—he needs a lot of cops on the streets to track down illegal firework shooters.

“A short answer to your question, this really is a law and order matter,” said Beard.

Fireworks in the City of Oakley on July 4

Beard clarified Wednesday by saying his concern was with the behavior of society not following the rules and there have now been several incidents of people not behaving while engaging in criminal behaviors. His concern was for the safety of Oakley residents while attending a firework show or any community event.

During Tuesdays presentation to the city council, he admitted while they had the staffing levels to target illegal fireworks, it didn’t go as planned and he had to do a better job in communicating to officers of how they do fireworks enforcement and the tactics used.

“It fell apart on us this year, but not only did it fall apart in Oakley, it fell apart statewide, countywide, and regionally,” said Beard who noted 2021 was the worst year with fireworks season running from April to October. “Oakley loves its fireworks.”

He continued by saying Oakley has taken a stance against illegal fireworks.

“We have gone on record as a police department to say that fireworks are hazardous for pets, war veterans and there is a lot of data to support that,” said Beard. “We did adopt a zero tolerance policy and we ran an educational program through June 29 to share open notice to the community and it was a plea to the community not to use fireworks and share the $1k fine if one is caught. We also went into a few communities to provide pass outs on their doorsteps or mailboxes.”

“It was a slow ramp up this year leading up to the Fourth of July, then all was lost. But the four days leading up, it was a slow ramp up,” explained Beard.

He reminded the council that firework calls are underreported because historically people have called dispatch and placed on hold due to firework calls—at a certain point they stop calling. He also said people believe nothing happens because an officer doesn’t show up because they are going from block to block.

“Last year, we had 84 fireworks calls for service, this year, we had 94 an increase of only 10. I think we can all agree the amount of fireworks was a lot greater than 10,” said Beard. Beard said last year they had 1 citation and this year they are working 6 cases—there may be a 7^th.

• 400 block of Almondtree Circle
• 200 block of Silver Bell Way
• 5000 block of Miguel Drive
• 20 block of Minaret Road
• 10 block of Vignola Court
• 1600 block of Lillian Street

Illegal fireworks show at Frank Hengel Park

Councilmember Shannon Shaw said she would like stricter fines while suggesting perhaps Oakley create their own special tip line to allow residents quicker service.

Beard agreed saying that the county line dealt with all of Contra Costa County so perhaps Oakley residents couldn’t get through as quick.

Shaw presented a prop, a firework that landed on her neighbors roof from all the fireworks while highlighting it presents fire danger and it could have been a bad night for them.

“Councilmemebr Williams had a fire at her house and this could have been a bad night for us and it got to the point they were not shooting them into the air, they were shooting them at each other. The people at the house were mad the people at the park took their thunder, they started shooting at each other, it was horrible,” explained Shaw. “I would like to see drones and stricter fines and potentially a reward system if it does turn into a fine.”

She admitted the reward system could cause problems of neighbors telling on one another but they had to escalate this.

Councilmember George Fuller shared a different opinion saying this years fireworks were drastically improved and wondered where people were getting their information.

Cities that held firework shows in Contra Costa County included: City of Antioch, City of Concord, City of Hercules, City of Martinez, Moraga, City of Pittsburg, City of Pleasant Hill

Editors Note:

• 2020: 167 calls for service. They had 76 cases in which 6 were appealed. 25 Cases were dismissed while 50 cases were upheld with a $100 fine.
• 2021: Adopted Municipal Code of a $1k fine. Police saw a 40% decrease in calls for service from 2020. Cases dropped to 46 in which 21 cases were appealed. 12 were dismissed and 6 upheld with a $1k fine.
• 2022: Beard said it “seemed less” which data shows. Oakley saw a 35% decrease from 2021 with 83 calls for service. Oakley had 1 case which was contested and upheld. Fine of $1k
• 2023: Continue education and co-branding with fire department for basic awareness. Will take all hands-on deck this year. Summerfest will have 15 officers assigned.

Back in June of 2021, the Oakley City Council approved its Ordinance to increase penalties for fireworks to include “social hosts” making them accountable for fireworks discharges. The fine increased from $100 to $1,000.  The council voted 4-1 in favor with Vice Mayor Randy Pope dissenting over language in the ordinance.

Previous Stories

• July 12: Law Enforcement Share Fireworks Complaint Data From July 4
• July 7: Contra Costa Fire Highlights July 4 Fireworks-Related Responses
• June 28: Contra Costa Fire Announces Illegal Fireworks Reporting Hotline
• June 8, 2021: Contra Costa County Amends Fireworks Ordinance Board Meeting Emphasizes Public Safety and Wildfire Prevention