Glen Oak Park July 3 fireworks canceled over neighborhood crime concerns

There will be no July 3 fireworks at Glen Oak Park this year.

On Wednesday night the Peoria Park District Board of Trustees voted 4-2 to cancel the annual Glen Oak Park fireworks show this year out of concerns about crime stemming from the event.

There will still be some sort of July 3 event held as the park district already has an event budgeted, this year however, it will not include the evening fireworks show.

Board President Robert Johnson and vice president Alex Sierra voted to keep the fireworks. Board members Steve Montez, Laurie Covington, Tim Bertschy and Joyce Harant voted to cancel the show. One trustee, Reagan Leslie Hill, abstained from voting.

The Peoria Police Department had advocated for the fireworks show to be brought to an end, citing high crime responses required in the East Bluff neighborhood on July 3 following the longtime event.

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Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria spoke to the park board and reiterated why he feels the fireworks need to be canceled. He added there is a public perception of a fight between the Police Department and the Park District, which is "completely incorrect."

Echevarria said Peoria has a "phenomenal park district."

"I never asked to cancel all events and I never even said 'cancel this whole event' ... cancel what's in the evening, the fireworks portion of it and let's plan on something else. There's other options here," Echevarria said Wednesday night.

Echevarria also said if the park board voted to keep the fireworks at Glen Oak Park the police department would be there regardless.

"The Peoria Police Department is not going to throw their hands up and say 'we're not going to be there.' Of course we're going to support," Echevarria said.

Dozens of community members showed up to the meeting to express their opinions on the future of the event. For the most part, opinions were split.

City councilmember Tim Riggenbach, whose 3rd District includes Glen Oak Park, said his constituents "won't let him rest" about the fireworks issue. Riggenbach said concerns around the event started heating up around 2016 or 2017 when the police chief at the time said officers couldn't take July 3 off.

"The last thing we want is for some unfortunate incident on a 3rd of July night when it's dark out and there's kids coming that aren't even East Bluff kids, doing something stupid that's going to scar the future of Glen Oak," Riggenbach said. "Let's look at some alternative programming, let's look at something that will allow the families to feel safe to bring their kids into."

Demario Boone, the director of safety for Peoria Public Schools, said Wednesday night that "part of the Peoria problem is the youth are more organized than we are and that's kind of taking over everything." Boone said he is in solidarity with Echevarria over the request to see the fireworks canceled.

"I've been in law enforcement 20 years, 18 with the school district, and when I tell you I've never worked an event where the whole time my heart, everything was on edge — this was the only time I ever worked an event like that," Boone said. "There were fireworks going here, somebody running with a firearm, fights here ... we're just trying to keep the peace, it was a lot that happened."

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Glen Oak Park July 3 fireworks canceled over crime concerns