Over the last several days, the Perry Police Department has received many calls about people illegally shooting fireworks within city limits. With that in mind, Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn reminds people of the laws laid out in the City’s fireworks ordinance.

Although the sale and use of fireworks in the State of Iowa became legal as of June 1st, the Perry City Council passed an ordinance that limits the use to July 4th from 4-11 p.m. Vaughn says the City is allowing people to exercise their right to use fireworks, but they’re still leary of them being used for extended time which is why they issued the ordinance.

The enforcement of the fireworks ordinance falls on the shoulders of Vaughn and his officers, and he says they are working on methods of cracking down on illegal fireworks use. “We have officers out on patrol, and we’ve kind of instructed them to have their windows down. Which we generally do to try to listen to what’s going on in the community. But if we hear them, we want to try to locate them and speak with the people and advise them of the ordinance. That’s one of the big things we want to do, is let people know what the regulations are here in town, and what changes have been made.”

Vaughn adds, they will also take complaints from citizens, and he reminds people they can remain anonymous when they call. While officers to this point have only issued warnings, Vaughn says it won’t be long before they issue citations carrying a fine of $500.

To hear more about the fireworks ordinance, listen to Tuesday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.