Fort Worth used cameras and license plate data to catch July Fourth fireworks violators
Fort Worth used city cameras and license plate data to catch people violating the city’s fireworks ordinance during the July 4 holiday.
Members of the fire department’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation used cameras to catch violators and license plate information to identify them before sending them citations in the mail, according to a report prepared for the City Council.
The city issued 35 fireworks citations, up from four in 2021 and two in 2020.
About 15 of the 35 cases involved some kind of video or photo evidence, fire chief Jim Davis wrote in an email to the Star-Telegram. The rest were observed by members of the arson unit.
“This was part of a pilot program and was labor intensive, however the camera use was successful in that we were able to monitor several areas at the same time with less resources,” he wrote.
The visual evidence should make it easier to prosecute these cases in municipal court, the report said.
This is the first time the city has used cameras for fireworks enforcement. Fort Worth bans the sale, use and possession of fireworks within 5,000 feet of the city limits.
The city has had difficulty enforcing the ordinance because of the availability of fireworks outside of Fort Worth and the sheer number of fireworks calls over the July Fourth holiday.
The city received 4,596 fireworks complaints between July 1-6, roughly the same number as 2021.
The fire department also responded to roughly 200 grass fires during the July Fourth holiday, some of which it attributed to fireworks.
The city is studying the effectiveness of using the cameras for fireworks enforcement, according to the council report.
It is looking at increasing staffing and will monitor if the citations result in convictions.
This story was originally published August 1, 2022 at 4:29 PM.
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