Looks like there will be enough public safety folks out today to keep things safe and fun for everyone.
Be careful out there and enjoy your 4th!
An excerpt.
Agencies raise profile to deter holiday trouble
Rivers, roads, parks to get heavy patrols to head off repeats of last year's melees.
By Crystal Carreon -- Bee Staff Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Tuesday, July 4, 2006
They'll come by land, by sea, by motorboat and motorcycle in a spirited show of force to help ensure this year's Fourth of July is safe -- and sober -- for all.
"We know it's coming; we know the potential for problems," said John Havicon, park ranger supervisor for Sacramento County's regional parks department. "But we're not going to tolerate bad behavior."
Havicon, who will putter around the American River Parkway, near the scene of last year's "sea of drunken humanity" melee along the river, will be among the legions of officers around Sacramento suited up and ready to cite or arrest those revelers who are not mindful of the rules.
At least 10,000 people are expected along the river, Havicon said. And he hopes to avoid a return of last year's delinquency -- largely drunken brawls -- that led to 30 arrests and dozens of police pepper-powder balls being fired to break up fights.
"Every Fourth of July is always a busy day -- we consider it our worst day of the year," he said. "We just want them to enjoy themselves and be safe, too."
By Monday afternoon, most of the parking spots along Interstate 5 at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers were taken, as residents basked in an early holiday, launching boats and lunching under the shade of cottonwood trees of Discovery Park.
Park rangers roving around in pickups didn't dispel a leisurely afternoon under the sun.
"We were just laughing about that -- we saw one (ranger) in a four-by-four over there," said Renee Viehmann, gesturing toward a grassy patch across from her glossy Calabria boat. "It doesn't bother us."
