Help Us Document Neighborhood Disruptive, CA-Banned Pyros / Explosives in Long Beach (July 2-4, 2016)

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(July 2, 2016) -- LBREPORT.com invites our readers to help us document the extent and locations of neighborhood-disruptive, statewide-banned, pyros and explosives in Long Beach over the July 4th holiday period. We're not referring to so-called "safe and sane" whistlers, sparklers and spinners that some cities (including Lakewood) allow and LB bans. We mean the M-80 style bombs and aerial rockets that are illegal to use or possess by individuals anywhere in California.

If you see or hear these bombs or aerial rockets in your neighborhood:

(1) First call LBPD at (562) 435-6711 or 911 and report them [but don't expect an officer to respond; they're swamped] and
(2) Use #LBCFireworks or go to LBCFireworks on Twitter to document what's taking place on a special page LBREPORT.com has set up for this purpose. You can jump to it here and you'll also find it in the right column on our front page: www.LBREPORT.com.

[Scroll down for further.]

We understand the difficulty (if not impossibility) of banning things that many people want, but that's not what's occurring here. In this case, the actions of a few detrimentally affect the lives of many people. The earth-rattling large bombs occur at all hours. They disrupt the lives of people and their pets. In some neighborhoods, this has been going on for weeks. The aerial rockets, basically unguided missles, can land on people's property and ignite fires.

What's taking place is a major nuisance using July 4th as an excuse. Those who do this apparently consider it open-season in Long Beach, whose current Mayor and City Council have left L.A. County's second largest city with fewer police per capita than tiny Signal Hill or massive Los Angeles. While spending millions on a needless new Civic Center and fueling a growing six figure club of city employees, Long Beach's Mayor and Council have left LB taxpayers with a citywide deployable police level roughly equivalent per capita to what L.A. would experience if it recklessly erased over 25% of LAPD's budgeted officers.

After eliminating roughly 200 sworn officers (about 20% of LBPD's previous citywide deployable force), LB's ever-innovative electeds are now relying on Facebook messages, Twitter tweets, billboards, signage and other clumsy propaganda to remind scofflaws that their actions violate laws that they're scoffing.

What's next? Texting gangmembers on their smartphones to remind them it's illegal to shoot guns within LB city limits?

Until LB's next elections, all we can do at this point is document what's taking place.

Tell your friends and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter that LBREPORT.com welcomes your information. We've put a widget showing our special Twitter feed on our home page (right column at: www.LBREPORT.com) so readers citywide and beyond can track incoming reports.

Remember: first call LBPD, then send LBREPORT.com a quick message to #LBCFireworks or to LBCFireworks on Twitter. Let us know roughly where you are (large cross-streets) and the date and time.

And thank you.

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