Baltimore Celebrates Fourth Of July With Fireworks At Inner Harbor
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Celebrating the Fourth under a watchful eye. Baltimore City police beefed up patrols to keep it a safe holiday.
Monique Griego has more on how the night went.
Hundreds of thousands of eyes fixated on the sky over the Inner Harbor as fireworks lit up the night on this Independence Day. The massive crowds only added to the excitement and patriotic energy of the show.
"I love to see fireworks," said one attendee.
But mixed in with the clusters of people were hundreds of Baltimore City police officers. Their job is to keep this celebration violence free.
Last year's celebration saw several fights. A man was stabbed to death and a 4-year-old was hit by a stray bullet.
The department is using several different tactics to keep things safe, starting with new crowd control barriers. Police are also using a new way to deploy officers and, unlike previous years, all are in uniform to make sure their presence is known.
"We not only have the ground forces, which are numerous in number, but we have aerial support," said Lt. Col. Ross Buzzuro.
Visitors we spoke to noticed and appreciated the increased support.
"We counted when we came in," said one.
For many people here, the Fourth of July at the Inner Harbor is a family tradition and although a few violent incidents tainted previous celebrations, this year's atmosphere seemed to remind people of the good times.
Around 200,000 people were expected to have attended Wednesday's fireworks show.
