“The rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night” – a refrain in our National Anthem, which is played over and over on the July 4th holiday, signals not only our patriotism but, unfortunately, that of the ugly assault to our personal property which occurs every year.

I’m speaking, folks, of the continuous fireworks, starting on Saturday July 2nd and ending in a barrage of poppers, flares and ear shattering explosions of M-1000s on July 4th. It was like being caught in the middle of a firing range with my property being the target. Several residents a few homes away from mine were involved in the assault as well as number of people setting off fireworks in Harbour Park behind me.

I called the Antioch Police Department and asked them to send a car down my street and to the park but the noise never lessened. Frankly, I think the city should buy the cops loudspeakers with tape recorder speaker attachments so they can drive through neighborhoods and remind residents that fireworks are illegal and the fine considerable.

It doesn’t help that the Antioch Police Dept. is 22 officers short, although frankly I’m not sure that count is accurate as it’s a few months old and may not include two officers who recently chose to leave the department.

Perhaps the police department wouldn’t be so short staffed if the Antioch Police Officers Association (APOA) would agree to pay more than 3% toward their retirement and that “concession” is only till 12/31/11. Their existing contract runs until Sept 2013. Police Managers agreed to pay full 9% over 5 year of phase in.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.