Making July Fourth arrests for fireworks use a challenge for Long Island law enforcement

New York state law says the use of fireworks by anyone other than a certified pyrotechnic is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

But to state the obvious to most anyone living on Long Island on July Fourth: Laws concerning personal firework usage appear to be enforced sparingly across the region.

While the Nassau and Suffolk police departments say they have “zero-tolerance” toward possession of illegal fireworks, arrests are relatively uncommon, at least compared to their widespread usage, particularly during the July Fourth holiday.

The reason, said Lawrence Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University's National Center for Suburban Studies, is a matter of practicality and politics.

“Broad enforcement of laws forbidding fireworks is virtually impossible for local police departments, and perhaps even perilous for politicians,” Levy said. “Cops and fire departments already have their hands full with serious emergencies, including some due to mishandling of illegal fireworks, plus everything else they need to do on a busy holiday when people are drinking too much.”

The dangers of fireworks — both criminally and medically — came into clear focus Thursday during chaotic July Fourth celebrations across Long Island.

In Suffolk, a pair of incidents left five people, including a young girl, with serious fireworks-related injuries in Port Jefferson Station and Copiague. Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said charges are “imminent” in the Port Jefferson Station case.

Suffolk police Friday announced the arrest of a Smithtown man for possession of fireworks, although the top charges centered on a cache of illegal weapons and ammunition he allegedly kept in his home.

Police are in a difficult position enforcing fireworks usage, Catalina said during a news conference Friday in Yaphank.

Officers first need to prove who is responsible, a difficult task when the behavior is seemingly endorsed by neighbors, he said. Meanwhile, Catalina said, possession of illegal fireworks is a relatively minor charge, albeit one that can be time consuming on one of the busiest nights of the year.

“Cops understand the danger of the fireworks, so they're going to try to confiscate and make arrests whenever they can,” Catalina said. “It's just not always easy for them to do. We have to prove that there was somebody actually doing it. A lot of times people will disperse when the police officers come. The fireworks will be left. We'll confiscate the fireworks. But then that takes our people off the road as well. They have to come in and voucher it. ”

Suffolk police made two fireworks-related arrests each in 2022 and in 2023 and one so far in 2024, a spokeswoman said.

Nassau, which has taken a somewhat more aggressive approach toward fireworks enforcement, made 32 such arrests in 2022 and 42 in 2023, said department spokesman Richard LeBrun. 

On Thursday, Nassau Police made eight fireworks-related arrests, accounting for their total for the year. They include a Levittown man charged with supplying an 11-year-old with a firework that malfunctioned, causing extensive damage to two homes; two Franklin Square men found in possession of 14 cases of fireworks and five businesses charged with unlawfully selling fireworks.

In the run-up to the July 4 holiday, Nassau Police will meet with business owners, LeBrun said, advising them against selling fireworks to residents.

“The same officers will also visit locations that are known to shoot off fireworks to hand out pamphlets regarding the dangers of them to residents,” LeBrun said.

Since 2022, Nassau Police, he said, have fielded more than 4,500 calls from residents related to fireworks and aided four individuals with injuries.

Nationwide, fireworks caused 31,302 fires in 2022, resulting in n estimated $109 million in property damage, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

“Our position is clear: There is no safe way to use consumer fireworks,” said Tom Lyons, an association spokesman. “Fireworks are too dangerous and unpredictable to be used safely by individuals.”

Last year, 9,700 people were hospitalized nationwide with fireworks-related injuries, along with eight deaths, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 2022, the most recent year with available data, there was 173 fireworks-related emergency room visits in New York — with roughly one-fourth of those for minors, state officials said.

Despite the injuries and property damage, law enforcement is in a difficult spot regulating behavior that, while illegal, has become commonplace across the island, Levy said.

“As long as the mayhem is contained to a single day or weekend, many, and maybe even most residents, would consider a sharp crackdown on neighborhood pyrotechnics to be government overreach,” he said. “What village, town or county official wants to be accused of being a Scrooge on the most patriotic of holidays?”

With Shari Einhorn

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.