Riverside issues citations for illegal fireworks spotted by police drones over Fourth of July weekend

The city of Riverside has issued dozens of citations for the use of illegal fireworks that were spotted by police drones patrolling the skies over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. 

Beginning in the days leading up to the holiday, Riverside police launched five different drones to start looking for firework activity, part of their new plan to catch people partaking in the illegal pyrotechnics. 

"We're talking about the very illegal explosive mortars. The ones that are illegal in the state of California," said Riverside Police Department Spokesperson Officer Ryan Railsback. "You have to bring those from outside the state, or outside the country. ... This is dangerous for them to do. That's why our city has taken this stance of saying it's not allowed and putting a hefty fine attached to it."

He says that it wasn't very hard to find people who were breaking the law, and letters with fines were sent out this week. Each fine is $1,500 and people can be fined for violations every 24 hours, Railsback said. 

"There's no disputing what you're gonna see on the video. The fireworks that were going off are affiliated with your property, it's plain as day on this video," he said. 

Related: Riverside County begins annual crackdown on illegal fireworks

Police say that the letters will contain what they call administrative citations. They aren't criminal and the fine is placed against the property for using fireworks. Those who wish to appeal may do so, Railsback said. 

"They have every right to appeal it, but we feel every citation going out has a very strong video evidence to support it," he said. 

So far, Railsback says that 60 property owners have been identified to be receiving fines. 

Some residents said that the way police were going about issuing citations isn't fair. 

"I think it's wrong," said one Riverside man. "I mean, if you're gonna city somebody do it person to person. That's an invasion of property."

Railsback said it's no different than law enforcement departments utilizing helicopters. 

"We're in a rightful place in the sky. It's no different than when we have our police helicopter, we have two brand new, or newer helicopters that go patrol looking for things, helping support the officers on the ground," he said.