Pomona : Illegal Gunfire Warrants

In the continuation of a tradition begun two years ago, a Pomona Municipal Court judge will be standing by New Year’s Day to sign search warrants to allow Pomona police to confiscate weapons and arrest those who celebrate the New Year by firing guns into the air.

Capt. Jim Harding said the stepped-up enforcement program has succeeded in sharply reducing the amount of gunfire in the last two years. Last New Year’s Eve, he said, police received 38 complaints about gunfire, a disturbing number but still far below the hundreds of calls that used to be logged.

Under the plan, police respond to calls about shots being fired and then send follow-up investigative teams to interview witnesses and to gather evidence. Judge Jack Hunt will be available to sign search warrants. The result, Harding said, will be that anyone who fires a gun will risk celebrating the New Year in jail.