SBPD reports uptick in violent crime, calls for fireworks over July 4th weekend

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Months of stay-at-home orders and Coronavirus restrictions are being blamed for a busy July Fourth holiday weekend for the Santa Barbara Police Department. SBPD releasing new numbers Tuesday morning, showing an uptick in violent crime and a massive increase in calls for illegal fireworks.

Santa Barbara police officers responded to 475 calls for service on July 4 and July 5. Sixty of those calls were from people worried about neighbors using high-powered mortar fireworks, police say. A total of 158 calls were firework-related, but not necessarily for those high-powered type. SBPD says the five-year average for firework related calls was around 40.

Violent and serious felonies were up as well. Police say over the two day holiday weekend they made 11 felony arrests. Four involved an assault with a deadly weapon. Police also responded to a hit-and-run with injuries and three grand theft investigations.

Overall there was a 45% increase in calls for service according to police, compared to the five-year average for the Fourth of July.