Fort Worth officials work to prevent July 4 holiday crime surge
Fort Worth works to prevent 4th of July holiday crime
Fort Worth Police department met with the city council on Tuesday to plan response and prevention of crime on the Fourth of July.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth police are working to minimize illegal activity that may increase around the July Fourth holiday.
On Tuesday, the department met with the city council in a work session to discuss how crime will be preemptively addressed for the coming holiday.
Fort Worth Holiday Crime Prevention
The Plan:
Interim Police Chief Robert Alldridge told city council members on Tuesday that there are teams of officers and firefighters currently working with neighborhood groups and apartment communities, stressing compliance with the law.
They're also increasing the dispatch staff to include trained civilians to handle the typical surge in police calls on July Fourth.
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Alldridge says there will be careful monitoring of events throughout the city in an attempt to prevent similar incidents this year.
The department will provide increased officer presence for fireworks enforcement, including a command post for a planned "Como Homecoming" July Fourth event, as well as the annual "Fort Worth's Fourth at Panther Island."
The backstory:
In recent years, crime has marred some Fort Worth celebrations. In 2023, three people were killed and at least eight others injured when gunfire erupted following a large July Fourth holiday event in the Como community.
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What they're saying:
Alldridge said a large focus will be on addressing the use of fireworks in city limits.
"Plain and simple, there’s laws on the books. You can’t possess them, you can’t have them, you can’t shoot them off. You can’t do anything with fireworks. They are illegal in the city limits of Fort Worth."
The chief also said guns are a common issue on the holiday.
"One thing that is very important to note is we have a lot of celebratory gunfire on the Fourth of July. We are doing our best to get people to not do that. Because what goes up must come down," Alldridge said.
Alldridge laid out the plan for response to calls on July Fourth.
"The calls we go to are going to be regulated on the type of calls we get and them being prioritized," Alldridge said. "Life or death situations, of course, we’re going to handle first. Fireworks calls, sometimes those priorities go down the list a little bit and take us a little time to get to."
The chief says the fire department will confiscate any illegal fireworks, as the two have a unique partnership.
"We work very closely together. I know on the third of July we have set up strike teams, different teams of the police department, we partner with the fire department so we can have access into communities if something does happen," Alldridge said.
The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 4 coverage of a Fort Worth City Council work session.