A Fourth of July to enjoy

Here’s a question: What makes the Fourth of July in Newport-Mesa

special for you?

Is it the party at Mariners Park? If so, you’re in the company of

thousands of others.

Is it the Newport Old Glory Boat Parade? If so, there are a 100

boat captains who agree with you.

Is it the parade that originates on Costa Mesa’s Duke Place? If

so, you’re in a smaller, but no less patriotic, crowd.

Could it be the Dunes fireworks? If so, then join the biggest

crowd of all.

Any way you answer that question, you’re not going to be

disappointed. Newport-Mesa is a patriot’s dream.

It also, for the second year in a row, was a peace-lover’s dream.

And for that, everyone who enjoyed a pleasant, calm Fourth have city

leaders and the cities police and fire departments to thank.

It’s still easy enough to recall the raucous scenes from West

Newport. The streets were packed with an almost incomprehensible

number of people, bodies jammed together in an all-too-frequently

drunken mass that seemed invariably to lead to disturbances. Police

arrested 160 people two years ago.

And then they got serious. The City Council approved plans for a

“safety enhancement zone” program, in which the department added 60

officers from other Orange County departments as part of the West

Newport patrol. Officers worked closely with residents to ease

tensions before the holiday ratcheted things up. Arrests dropped last

year to 103. This year’s tally came in at 113.

Costa Mesa officials also got serious this year, with police

officers and firefighters teaming up to crack down on illegal

fireworks. They dolled out 40 citations, which police called a

significant jump compared to 2003.

But those numbers aren’t the true measure of the holiday. Rather,

it was in the smiles on the children’s faces at Mariners, in the

waves of the people riding on the boats and, even, in the boisterous

revelry in West Newport. It was in the freedom to celebrate our

country’s birthday as we all chose to do, as we all are lucky enough

to be able to do.