Longmont’s new method of dealing with fireworks complaints was a success, a city official told the city council Tuesday night.
A new call center where complaints about fireworks were tallied allowed police to respond to other 911 calls, Assistant City Manager Sandi Seader told the city council.
“The online reporting and call center hotline did exactly what we were hoping it would do,” Seader said.
Police responded to 193 911calls for service for fireworks between June 27 and July 11. Records show police responded to 810 911 calls for service during that time frame in 2020 and 480 in 2021, the records state.
The city’s seven-phone fireworks hotline began receiving calls between July 1 and the Fourth of July weekend. The center received 271 calls during that time while residents made 259 online calls about fireworks, the records state.
The city also set up a fireworks “heat map” which highlighted areas in Longmont that received the most illegal fireworks complaints.
Public Safety Chief Zach Ardis said officials are sifting through the information collected from the heat map to target neighborhoods where more public education is needed prior to next year’s Fourth of July celebration.
