Council workshop: fireworks rules clear on paper but enforcement is difficult, police say

City staff told council members at a Jan. 20 workshop that Cleveland follows regional practice of prohibiting sale, storage and discharge of consumer fireworks while allowing permitted public displays, but police warned enforcement can be difficult.

Unidentified Speaker 5 summarized regional practice: "Fireworks are just banned, sell, store, distribute, travel through the city with them, discharging them. It does permit public displays that are permitted generally, or some type of special event." He added the city has adopted the 2015 Fire Code, which contains provisions related to fireworks, but noted some local codification could be clarified to help the public find the rules in the ordinance.

Unidentified Speaker 3 said residents still report seeing or hearing fireworks and asked why that happens if a ban was communicated via outreach. Unidentified Speaker 7 (police) explained practical limits: officers often arrive to smoke but not to persons discharging fireworks. "All they see is smoke," he said, and observed that it is rare to catch individuals in the act. He described an enforcement path for residents who observe violations: callers can "swear out a affidavit and file charges" and repeated calls can help officers locate the source.

Council praised a public information video produced with police and the fire department that staff said helped slow fireworks incidents in recent months. No ordinance change was adopted; staff recommended clarifying codification and said they would advise on potential ordinance edits if council wants to be more prescriptive or to clarify enforcement mechanisms.

Ending: Staff will return with suggested codification language and options for public-display permitting and enforcement guidance; there was no vote at the workshop.