Minimzing interaction with cops is generally a good idea.
Around my area you hear fireworks +/- a week of the 4th, plus some other random weekends throughout the year.
Yes, unfortunately. We’ve got cops essentially standing guard at park entrances with their cars’ flashing lights going, with fireworks going off all around them and no one’s trying to do a thing. I think they’ve got their hands full just with crowd control.
I don’t care what you do as long as you’re acting like a responsible adult and good neighbor, but around here people have been getting progressively more stupid with their explosives over the past few years. There’s a park not far from my place where they’ve had an “unofficial” (illegal) firework display for years… close to a decade if not longer. I used to go and enjoy because it was easier to get to than the municipal display and, for a while, was actually pretty cool to watch. Last year was the last year I will, though – the guys setting them off were way more concerned about out-doing each other with the size of their explosives than concerned with safety or even putting on a good show. We had stuff exploding on the ground, stuff shot into trees, stuff shot parallel to the ground and getting really damn close to hitting people. We left early because it felt so unsafe.
Even this year, we were trying to get to the lakefront to get a view of the municipal display, and had to walk through a couple miles of park to get there. There were people shooting them off too low. We saw some kids throw firecrackers into the bird sanctuary native grass planting area – thank the gods it’s been rainy recently, because the grass is dense and 6 feet high. One guy – a grown ass man – was holding a roman candle while it was shooting off, again parallel to the ground, just barely over the heads of the people in front of him, and only because he was on higher ground than they were – we thought he was going to hit someone.
So the idiots have pretty much ruined it for me. I’m not in the mood to risk life or limb because too many jackasses won’t take responsibility for themselves. I would call because it seems like it’s getting more out of control, but when the cops are right there I doubt calling would do any good.
Just a few minutes ago, at 11:15 PM, someone in my neighborhood set off a couple of explosions so loud it made the windows rattle and set off car alarms. I went outside but didn’t see anyone. I’m not going to call the police, since it’s very unlikely they’d be able to find the culprits.
Back when we went to my grandma’s house for fireworks, it never even dawned on me to say anything if anyone shot a firework after 11 pm. I just thought badly of them for not following the rules. We, on the other hand, timed it so we’d have one last one at the last possible moment.
Out of town, fireworks are legal. I’d only consider calling if there were a burn ban.
I wouldn’t call PD at all unless they were deliberately being aimed at me/my house. However, I question the calling of 311. Since most fireworks don’t go on that long, & frequently the caller doesn’t know the exact address of where they’re being shot off from by the time the PD gets to the area & has the ability to pinpoint the location the ‘show’ is over. Doing this as a low-priority 311 call is useless & an attempt to coddle the caller into thinking something is being done. I wouldn’t call 311 for it, ever.
There are several people in my neighborhood who are fireworks fanatics. Not just on the 4th, but in the days leading up to it, every evening is like the 1812 Overture. I’ve learned to largely tune it out (and I recognize that it’s nearly impossible for the police to find a particular guy lighting the fireworks).
But, if they keep doing it past 11pm or midnight (which they frequently do), or start firing them in the direction of my house (which they have not yet done), then, hell, yes, I’m calling the police.