By Deon Roberts, Online Editor
Fireworks are illegal where I live, in Marrero, on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.
Yet year after year, despite promises from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to crack down on lawbreakers, fireworks are used illegally in mine and other neighborhoods.
It makes me wonder why the law is even on the books. If you’re not going to enforce it, it makes sense to do away with it. Perhaps then I and other residents wouldn’t be so angry.
Not only do people illegally use fireworks in Jefferson Parish, the lawbreakers also become brazen with them. Some people – mostly teenagers, obviously – aim them at one another or at homes and other property. Parents stand by and watch this dangerous activity or, worse, they don’t supervise. This is a fire and safety hazard.
Parents, you need to wake up: Firecrackers are not toys, and, in the hands of teenagers, they can be deadly.
Parish leaders need to wake up, too. The quality of life in Jefferson Parish stinks on New Year’s Eve, as the night is disrupted by hordes of people exploding firecrackers. Some blasts have actually shaken my house. These can’t be fireworks. Are people detonating homemade bombs? Seriously: What is causing such loud explosions?
For us parents of young children, it can be a terrible night. Good luck trying to keep a baby asleep when it sounds like a war zone outside. It’s also impossible for us adults to rest, because people aren’t content to stop using fireworks after midnight. No, the lawbreakers shoot them well into the early morning hours.
Jefferson Parish this year rolled out red-light cameras to slap light runners with expensive tickets, which I’m sure have become a major revenue source for the parish. So why not enforce the fireworks law as another revenue source? It couldn’t be easier to catch a lawbreaker. On the West Bank, you are only allowed to use them in Gretna, which is the only place they can be sold. Drive anywhere on the West Bank, and you’ll find tons of people in the streets, in plain view, firing them off.
Residents complain about this every year. But it doesn’t get any better.
We must learn to live with the fact that Jefferson Parish turns a blind eye to this problem and, it seems, always will.
7 responses so far ↓
Mary // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
Your experience mirrors mine. In Kenner, a fire caused by fireworks destroyed a family’s condo, which is what I feared all New Years Eve. Last year a rocket broke a glass pane in my front door. I spend the evening trying to calm my large dog. My neighbor is teaching his four year old son how to hold rockets as he lights the fuse. I dread death more, but 14 hours of bombs going off all around my house runs a close second. I hate it, just hate it. The cleanup filled two paper grocery bags this year. One year, a wonderful and considerate neighbor cleaned my yard of all the debris caused by his prior evenings celebrations. I was so grateful and respect him to this day. I’m saving up to take a trip with my dog next year.
chris // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 5:11 pm |
Yeah, and let’s get rid of those obnoxious Mardi Gras parades and the beads…..and all those christmas lights are blinding road hazzards….Or maybe you just need to lighten up!
neworleanscitybusiness // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 5:15 pm |
Where do you live, Chris? Do you use fireworks? I suspect that you do. Are they legal in your area?
Deon Roberts
Online editor
New Orleans CityBusiness
John of Lacombe // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 5:38 pm |
When I was growing up in New Orleans I was injured (slightly)shooting off Fireworks. My parents took me to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital, where a New Orleans Policeman fined my father. A few years later, my uncle an adult, was arrested in the emergency room.
I wonder if that still goes on? As far as the police enforcing the law, they are to busy trying to catch the people shooting bullets in the air.
Which is more important?
Mary // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 6:50 pm |
Chris — There’s a BIG difference — if I don’t want to see a Mardi Gras parade, I stay home (I have a choice). If I don’t want to hear fire crackers going off all night, I have to LEAVE home. I don’t play my music so loud that my neighbors can hear it (it’s called respect for other people).
Danny Koontz // Friday, January 4, 2008 at 10:02 pm |
I agree with your comments, but there’s one major problem. Chief Arthur Lawson basically directs all of the sales in this Parish to Gretna, which makes him rich since he owns several fireworks stands. He even graciously provide FREE Gretna Police details to keep control of the crowds. This year he personally worked some hours at his fireworks stands.
In my opinion, the police and politicians in this community seem to be the only people allowed to break the law. I know a number of police officers who have the illegal dark window tint on their personal vehicles since they will not be given a ticket. I knew several police officers who were at one time producing and selling illegal DirectTV cards that would give you all of the channels for free. And many of them get away with other things that us regular guys cannot do. Double standards I suppose that will never change until the people in charge step up to bring about the change. The delimma is when they reach that point, they begin changing their frame of mind. It’s really sad, but probably happens everywhere. Thanks for allowing us a place to vent with the CityBusiness blog. Keep up the good work.
Chris // Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 12:14 pm |
Although I think Jeff Parish officers generally do a great job, the department’s performance on fireworks ban enforcement is pitiful, and that was the case in the Harry Lee years, too, despite the rhetoric.
When I see a two-hour fireworks display launched from the front yard of an officer’s own house in Metairie, I just wonder about the relevance of a so-called fireworks ban.
Especially when you consider that the pipe bomb that damaged a car in Metairie on NY’s Eve was just a few blocks from the above-mentioned fireworks launching pad.