Crowds, fights leave NLV weighing changes to fireworks event

By Erin Dostal, Kyle B. Hansen

Saturday, July 10, 2010 | 1:50 a.m.

The North Las Vegas Independence Day Jubilee might have become a victim of its own popularity, leaving city leaders searching for ways to avoid crowds and fights that officials say intimidated some families.

Turnout for the 11th annual event on Saturday, July 3, overwhelmed organizers and law enforcement officers, who planned on 25,000 to 30,000 attendees, but instead got 42,000 to 45,000 -- and several fights that came with it. Organizers expected the crowd to be larger because the event was on a Saturday, but they didn't expect so many people at James Seastrand Park, 6330 Camino Eldorado.

North Las Vegas Police spokesman Sgt. Tim Bedwell said there weren't enough officers to keep the crowd under control.

“I think one of the major factors for us from an enforcement standpoint was that the number of people who attended the event was far above what we expected,” he said.

There were several fights that broke out with “large-scale stampedes of teenagers,” Bedwell said. He said the altercations were intimidating to families at the event.

“We would definitely like to avoid that in the future,” he said.

Only one person was arrested, but Bedwell said officers had a difficult time patrolling the entire park and surrounding area.

At one point, a fight broke out near Centennial Parkway and Camino Eldorado, where police were directing traffic. When police left the road to break up the fight, a wave of pedestrians entered the roadway and brought all vehicles to a stop.

Police returned to control the pedestrians and traffic, then the nearby fight resumed.

Despite the problems, Kim Leavitt, the city’s acting recreation manager, said the response from the event mostly was positive. She said the city received about 20 positive letters and phone calls after the event and fewer than 10 negative calls or messages.

“It sounds like the event will be back,” Leavitt said. “The problem was that we were just dealing with high capacity.”

During Wednesday night’s North Las Vegas City Council meeting, Mayor Shari Buck commended the police department for its efforts at Saturday’s event.

“I know especially for our public safety officials, it’s a very difficult event,” Buck said. “Some things that happened weren’t good. It’s still worthwhile.”

Both Bedwell and Leavitt said there will be a number of changes to the event next year. The police department is also reviewing how it handled the event and will finish a report in the next two weeks, Bedwell said.

He said authorities will recommend that fireworks be earlier in the evening. This year, the fireworks show began at 9:45 p.m., about 45 minutes after the sky became dark enough to shoot them off. That left more waiting time and more potential for mischief, he said.

Bedwell said the park wasn't set up properly to handle the large crowd, which made getting around and communication difficult.

“Not only would we have staffed it differently, but we may have to look at a different facility,” he said.

But Leavitt said the city would probably keep the Fourth of July event -- which carries a price tag of about $50,000 -- in the same venue next year, saying there are other ideas to help control the crowd.

Leavitt said the event likely will be “families only,” meaning all teens would need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian. She said problems mainly occurred among groups of teens gathered outside the main area after the event.

The city might also limit the number of people allowed into the park, Leavitt said.