By Pat Culverhouse
No Fourth of July celebration is worth its salt without a day trip with family, perhaps a cookout, followed by a good ol’ fireworks display.
Sheriff Jason Parker hopes all Webster Parish residents have a happy Fourth, but he also wants everyone to be around to celebrate the days after.
“A holiday is time for family to be together and we want everyone to enjoy themselves, but we also want everyone to have a safe holiday,” he said. “We want people to take precautions that ensure their safety.”
Parker said he’s not planning an increased patrol presence, but patrol deputies will certainly be on the lookout for careless and reckless drivers, especially drivers who may be under the influence.
“We know some people might want to celebrate just a little too much, but we want to discourage anyone from driving if they’ve been drinking,” he said. “There seems to be a spike in alcohol-related accidents during a holiday, and we will be watching for impaired drivers.”
Other types of drivers are also asked by the Sheriff to exercise caution during the holiday.
“We know people, especially young persons, enjoy riding ATVs in the rural areas,” he said. “They’re fun to operate, but they can also be dangerous if not operated safely. We want to remind the operators to not drive at high speeds over rough terrain, and we really don’t want them to be driven on our roads.”
Parker said fireworks are natural to the Fourth of July, but he said there are certain rules that should be followed.
“In rural areas especially, we hope people will watch the surroundings when shooting off fireworks,” he said. “Dry conditions make it easy for fires to break out in wooded areas and dry fields.”
Parker said the parish police jury had recently passed an ordinance amendment governing the shooting of fireworks outside corporate limits of towns in the parish.
“The Police Jury’s ordinance now prohibits the discharge of fireworks within 1,000 feet of livestock without consent of the livestock owner,” he said. “These fireworks close to livestock can cause panic, injury, escape of animals and threats to public safety. We want people to understand this is for their safety also.”
Parker said violation of the parish’s amended ordinance carries stiff penalties for violations.
“Our deputies aren’t going to be driving around and looking for ways to shut down celebrations and stop people from having fun, but we will be responding to complaints,” he said. “We usually just talk to people and ask them to be considerate.”