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SALINAS, Calif. -Its a stat that Salinas police struggle with around this time each year.
"Every year a couple of weeks before the holiday we get an increase in calls of shots fired," Commander David Shaw said.
Shaw said officers take shots fire calls seriously and there's no way to know if its fireworks until they get on scene.
Police said the fireworks being shot off are not the safe ones but it's the bigger, illegal ones.
Two years ago, George Tanimura, who owns the agriculture company, Tanimura and Antle, lost most of his home to what fire investigators said were bottle rockets that landed on the roof causing $500,000 in damage.
And for Salinas Police, illegal fireworks not only cause damage to people and property but also to it's staffing levels.
''When there are more reporting parties, we take those calls a little more seriously so we will send more resources. It depletes our resources pretty quickly.''
By Brett Martin
