Overnight, makeshift fences were erected in an attempt to keep fireworks and alcohol off of the beaches. In fact, every beach in Santa Cruz County was fenced off with multiple police officers stationed at every entrance. Anyone found to be in possession of fireworks was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Dogs were used to locate any contraband buried in the sand, while officers from SCPD, County Sheriffs and State Park Rangers patrolled the beaches. 
Anyone who has been to Santa Cruz on the 4th of July, is aware that the quiet beach town transforms into a war zone, that looks like Baghdad on the eve of the first gulf war... quite a change for the quiet surf community populated by peace-mongers. But on July 4th, the beaches and neighborhoods become battlefields where drunken pyro-soldiers play war games with live ammo consisting of every class of firework one could imagine... and more. To be honest, it's actually quite frightening at times, and no doubt, someone gets hurt quite badly every year.
In a frenzied reaction to the hundreds of wildfires that have been burning in California this summer, our over-zealous governors made a frantic attempt to squelch the fiery festivities this year. But, as usual, Santa Cruz City and County stuck it to the tax payers and hired hundreds of cops paying them overtime holiday wages. A seemingly misappropriation of funds. The ancient concrete roads are crumbling in Seabright, but they'll have to wait... indefinitely, because Santa Cruz City has its priorities.In the end, Santa Cruzans didn't give into the temporary tyranny wrought upon them, and fought back with a civilian fireworks display that rivaled last year's celebrations. As soon as darkness descended upon Surf City, an uninterrupted barrage of fiery explosions popped, fizzed, boomed and illuminated the night sky for several hours.
The cops were the big winners who got paid to spend the day at the beach, serving and protecting us from ourselves.
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