Elgin gives early OK to firework fines

Elgin firework lovers, beware: You soon could be held accountable if anyone detonates illegal fireworks on your property while you are present.

A new ordinance would allow police to give $100 citations to residents - whether they are property owners or renters responsible for the properties - if police find debris and other evidence of illegal fireworks.

Council members gave their preliminary OK in a unanimous vote Wednesday night, and are expected to give final approval in two weeks.

Police officials said they hope the measure will reduce the use of illegal fireworks in Elgin, including firecrackers, bottle rockets and more.

Residents want police to clamp down on that, Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said.

"Just about every neighborhood meeting we were at (when discussing Fourth of July), the residents were asking for something like this," Swoboda said.

It seems like illegal fireworks have become louder and more frightening, Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger said, pointing to some that are set off by Trout Park on Fourth of July.

Police responded to 368 complaints about illegal fireworks last year, including a woman and three children who suffered burns after they were struck by the explosives.

By the time police arrive, the action is usually over and those on the scene deny involvement, Swoboda said.

"(When people say) 'It wasn't me, it wasn't me, and there's a bunch of bottle rockets and beer cans, that gives the officer a tool to cite the person," he said.

Councilman John Prigge ventured that the new ordinance doesn't go far enough. For example, the city could consider adding a provision that calls for the arrest of people on the third offense, he said.

The number of fireworks complaints on Fourth of July reached a 10-year low in 2014, when police received 315 calls, mostly on Fourth of July, down from an average of more than 500 calls in 2009.

In the last few years, the police department tackled the issue by monitoring "hot spots," distributing informational fliers in neighborhoods, sending letters to past violators and posting on social media.

This year, the department also will use its CodeRED phone alert system, to which residents can subscribe, to remind people that fireworks are dangerous and illegal, police officials said.