Local law enforcement entities stepped it up this year to detect and deter illegal fireworks. More feet on the street, drones, and tougher laws all deterred scofflaws… to some degree. The state Department of Law Enforcement reportedly grabbed over 60 tons of illegal fireworks. That’s 120,000 pounds of stuff that didn’t make it into the air, kill or maim anybody. All good.
But the mere fact that that so much contraband was ready to go here means the New Year’s Eve big bang problem is far from being resolved. Law enforcement drone videos are being scrutinized to see where more charges might be made or warnings be sent.
Unfortunately, watching fireworks for some gawkers is like watching football. They know the harm that can occur, someone’s possibly going to get hurt (a guarantee in football), yet they just can’t seem to turn their eyes away. But football is legal.
Entrepreneurs realize that enforcement and focus are way up simply, so they seek new ways to import their goods, or bads. Some suggest greater scrutiny at our docks around December. But frantic fire-workers are savvy to that tactic and simply bring in illegal explosives earlier in the year, quietly storing them.
Perhaps county-coordinated efforts to provide legal events at controlled venues for people to watch (like the various July 4th fireworks displays in town, on military bases, and off Kailua Beach) would ween wary watchers or even violators from engaging in the voyeurism and crimes playing out down the street. While not complicit, those witnessing illegal, community festivities on New Year’s Eve play a role as enablers rather than just naïve, innocent bystanders. “Oooh, that one was cool!”
HPD received almost 1,500 calls (anonymity rules), made over 120 arrests, and anecdotal evidence and hospital reports suggest it was a “quieter” night in most areas on 12/31/25. Weather might have been a factor, too.
The devastating fireworks tragedy of six people killed by illegal explosives a year ago did not occur in a vacuum. For decades, the outcry has been for tougher laws and more patrolling. We got that. But it’s tough to (sometimes) catch people in the act of blowing things up.
And there’s that vicarious thrill that precludes some people from anonymously reporting illegal aerials. There’s the “yeah, it sucks, it’s illegal… but it’s kinda cool” logic that helps this annual folly survive, some years more robustly than others.
Think about it…