CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) -- Police in cities that banned fireworks even for the 4th of July report fireworks are still a problem. But that doesn't mean police are handing out tickets in all cases.
For the cities TV9 checked, Iowa City handed out the most citations, with 16 issued since July 3. That's out of 67 complaints, according to the city's online police log.
Dubuque issued just two citations, but a watch commander said the department received "numerous complaints," too many to count.
Des Moines Police had more than 500 complaints, but did not issue a single citation.
Cedar Rapids has handed out 8 fireworks citations so far this year. But the complaints show the impact of a city-wide ban.
In 2016, the year before legal fireworks, police had 486 complaints for fireworks. Last year, that jumped to 948 complaints.
This year, with a city-wide ban in place, fireworks complaints dropped back to 483.
Cedar Rapids Police said there were still several individuals who "violated the law and were disrespectful to their neighbors." The department said a significant number of illegal fireworks discharges happened on July 3 and 4, creating a backlog on police calls as officers responded to the most serious incidents first.