Editor’s note: The recent annexation of the Finn Hill, Kingsgate and North Juanita neighborhoods into the City of Kirkland has many complicated components. One of the most visible elements of annexation for the new residents is the presence of Kirkland police officers. This is part one of a four-part series on policing in the new neighborhoods.

One of the first big enforcement events in the new neighborhoods for the Kirkland Police Department was the Fourth of July.

“The Fourth of July is a blackout date and no one can get it off,” said KPD Chief Eric Olsen, about his staffing for Independence Day. “This was the first year for that area, so we tried to concentrate on education.”

KPD Capt. Bill Hamilton said the department received a high volume of fireworks complaints throughout the city this year, compared to last.

There was a total of 157 calls of fireworks complaints citywide, with 43 percent, or 68 calls, coming from residents in the new neighborhoods. The calls in those areas were equally divided, he noted.

Last year, there was only a total of 28 fireworks calls in the city. That number was up by 31 percent this year, with 89 calls in the pre-annexation Kirkland.

Hamilton said he is not certain why the KPD had such a low incidence of calls from the community last year, but thinks it may have something to do with the fact that the city has had a fireworks ban in place for many years, and that last year’s weather was cloudy and rainy.

The spike in fireworks complaints citywide can also be attributed to increased awareness, he said.

This year, “we purposefully increased our visibility and focused on educating our community on the fireworks laws, particularly in the neighborhoods where fireworks were previously allowed for many years,” said Hamilton.

Fireworks are banned in Kirkland City limits and legal in unincorporated King County. The King County Council passed an ordinance last year to ban fireworks in the Kirkland annexation area for 2011, to make the laws within the city limits the same. The ordinance was needed as a fireworks ban normally needs one year before it can go into effect for the area.

As in most areas where fireworks are banned, not all residents obeyed the laws.

“Kirkland needs to take its own fireworks ban seriously,” said Kirkland resident Matt Saavedra in a recent letter to the Reporter. “I live in the Finn Hill annexation area, or what should be known as ‘the war zone’ during the Fourth of July. My neighborhood is notorious for having many dangerous and illegal fireworks including M-80s, bottle rockets, and other loud and exploding type aerial fireworks.”

But tracking down offenders can be difficult.

“Often times you have to figure out where it is coming from and that can result in a time delay,” said Hamilton. ” … They are gone by the time we get there.”

One of the issues with policing fireworks is they are often a lower priority for officers if a more pressing situation arises, such as a domestic violence call or burglary. This year’s Fourth of July was relatively warm outside, which usually means that there are more alcohol-related incidents that can take precedence, Hamilton noted.

“I think we did as effective of a job as we could, but there is always room for improvement,” said Olsen. “But we have to prioritize the calls.”

The majority of the people who Kirkland police actually contacted for illegal action were families that were unaware of the new laws. Most of those families were using what were legal “Safe and Sane” fireworks.

The KPD was more concerned about getting the word out than penalizing people, Olsen said.

“This was year one,” said Olsen. “And it was a relatively safe Fourth of July. There were no major injuries and no fires in Kirkland.”

But those warnings will change to a higher number of citations and confiscations next year in the new neighborhoods.

“Next year we will increase our enforcement efforts through citations and confiscations,” said Hamilton, noting community awareness of the fireworks ban will have increased by that time. “Some people voted for annexation specifically for the fireworks ban. We are trying to change the behavior of everyone. It takes time.”

The new neighborhoods are also bordered primarily by cities with fireworks bans. Kenmore made a big push this year with a lot of signage to let citizens know it was not allowed. But signage is not the police department’s duty. That falls to the city.

“If signs are needed they could budget it in,” said Olsen. “But we are using all different types of media to educate people.”

The availability of fireworks in the area was also diminished this year. The closest place for residents to buy fireworks was a small section of unincorporated land just north of the North Juanita neighborhood. Still, many residents who were caught with fireworks claimed they didn’t know they were banned.

“My sense was that people were aware,” said Hamilton. “But again, the idea is to change the behavior and we gave people the benefit of the doubt. And people were cooperative.”

Olsen and Hamilton, and many residents, hope the education efforts this year will pay dividends in the future.

Saavedra also hopes the KPD “beefs up patrols and citations considerably next year and starts to actually enforce the ban they have in place because our neighborhood children, pets, and elderly deserve a true ban.”