From the Auburn Police Department’s Annual Fireworks Report, as delivered to the Auburn City Council on Aug. 26:
• The Auburn Police Department’s 2019 fireworks emphasis patrols started on June 24 and ran through July 5, with six officers working a total of 34 hours on fireworks emphasis;
• The APD assigned six officers and one sergeant to the discharge area on July 4. It assigned 14 officers and two sergeants to city-wide emphasis, dividing those teams equally between the north and south ends, and assigned two officers to cover the parks;
• In 2019, the APD confiscated 3,179 fireworks-related items;
• On July 4, the Muckleshoot Tribe continued the same hours of operation for the fireworks stands that it had employed in 2018, keeping the stands open until 10 p.m. when proprietors ran out of product;
• A request was made to the APD to close the discharge area at 10 p.m. when the stands sold out. This decision snarled traffic because people were traveling from neighboring cities to discharge their fireworks there. As patrons left the discharge area and others were turned away, they shifted ground to parking lots along Auburn Way South. On June 29, the White River Amphitheatre hosted a concert, the same night as the Muckleshoot Casino’s firework show, which created significant traffic issues in and out of the city.
• There was one significant fireworks-related injury at the stands during the week leading up to the holiday. There was one significant injury and two minor injuries to patrons on the evening of July 4. No officers were hurt this year.
• Between June 1 and July 5, Auburn residents placed 390 fireworks-related calls, resulting in six arrests, down from eight arrests in 2018;
• Between 11 a.m. July 4 and 8 a.m July 5, residents placed 172 fireworks-related-calls-for- service, up 18 over the previous year;
• 12 officers worked 78.5 hours between June 26 and July 5, leaving 17 hours and three shifts unfilled. Shifts went unfilled while officers worked overtime filling patrol shifts.
• The APD put two officers in the parks and used only one unmarked vehicle, which it assigned to the north-end sergeant.
