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San Jose Seeks To Curb Illegal Fireworks By Renewing Call To Report On Your Neighbor

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- The city of San Jose is once again trying to discourage illegal fireworks use on the Fourth of July holiday by encouraging neighbors to report each other.

"What we're asking people to do - if it's safe to do so - is take a picture of the person setting off the fireworks," said San Jose Fire Capt. Mitch Matlow.

Entering its third year, the city's fireworks reporting program is making a renewed push to report illegal activity while re-igniting an old debate over its wisdom and effectiveness.

"If we have enough information, we'll investigate the claim and then issue a citation. So, there will be an actual investigation and not just an automatic citation," said San Jose City Councilmember Johnny Khamis.

The program was widely criticized when it was first unveiled two years for an over-reliance on anonymous reporting as well as citations issued with little or no evidence that were difficult to disprove. The city ended up dismissing the citations issued.

"I was furious. I couldn't believe that someone could report something online and automatically I'd get a ticket," said homeowner Amy Guzules in 2017. Guzules successfully petitioned the city to drop citations like the one she received that were based on anonymous and unsubstantiated reports.

The overwhelming majority of reports do not result in citations of any kind. According to the city, only six citations were issued over the Fourth of July holiday in 2018 despite than 3,000 reports.

"Last year, we didn't cite as many people. But the people who were cited were very guilty," Khamis said.

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