While police around the metro area received many calls for possibly illegal fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend, not many issued citations.

From July 1 to 4, Denver Police Department (DPD) did not give out any citations for illegal fireworks use. 

On June 30, however, DPD cited Robert Menifee, 33, for selling fireworks illegally, according to a DPD spokesperson. 

Menifee was also cited four days prior, on June 26, along with Cruz Molina, 37, for selling fireworks illegally. Police responding to the incident found $80,000 of fireworks in their possession. 

On July 4 alone, Parker Police Department got 100 calls from residents asking police to check up on what they thought was illegal firework use. Sixty-six of those calls turned up nothing when police responded since the people had already taken off. 

Parker Police gave out eight warning but no citations on July 4, according to Parker Police Department spokesperson Nicholas Eckmann. 

Patrol officers shifts in Parker were adjusted to meet the increased call load for the Fourth of July, providing increased staffing from 6 p.m. to midnight, when 92% of fireworks calls came in, Eckmann said. 

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office also did not give out any citations for illegal firework use from June 30 to July 5, but got 320 calls from citizens reporting what they thought might be illegal firework use. 

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office received 637 total fireworks complaints from July 1 to July 5

Adams County PIO Sergeant Adam Sherman said it is not easy to catch people setting off illegal fireworks in the act. 

“Our deputies will be dispatched to a location of a fireworks complaint or self-initiate a fireworks investigation if they see it happening,” Sherman said. “From there the deputies have to catch someone in the act or possession of the illegal fireworks in order to issue a citation.”

When illegal fireworks are found, they are confiscated and destroyed, Sherman said. Anyone who gets a citation for illegal fireworks can receive up to a $499 fine. 

“Education and gaining voluntary compliance is the goal of the department when it comes to addressing illegal fireworks in Denver,” DPD spokesperson Jay Casillas wrote in an email to the Denver Gazette. “Residents/witnesses must be willing to sign the complaint in order for someone to be cited, which is generally why citations are not written.”

Officers can also cite someone if they see them igniting fireworks. However, compliance without citation is the goal in most cases, Casillas said. 

Fireworks are also lower priority calls than some others, such as those involving violent crime. This can affect how many fireworks-related calls officers respond to.