Rochester police are taking action to guarantee that downtown Fourth of July celebrations go off without any problems

Rochester, New York – On Thursday, the sky over downtown Rochester will be illuminated in red, white, and blue once more.

The Rochester Police Department is taking action to guarantee that downtown Fourth of July celebrations go as efficiently and securely as possible.

At ten o’clock in the evening, the city will host its yearly fireworks display.

Dozens of police officers will be present to ensure the event runs smoothly, according to Captain Greg Bello.

“We have an operational plan in place and we encourage people to come out downtown,” Bello said. “Be aware that there’s going to be a couple of street closures around the bridges where the crowds are going to be gathering for the fireworks.”

The Court Street and Broad Street bridges are the ideal spots to see the fireworks across the river. The bridges will close to traffic at eight o’clock on Thursday and reopen shortly after the fireworks.

Bello added that police would make every effort to ensure that everyone arrives at the event and leaves as soon as possible.

“The biggest thing is just to follow directions from the officers when you are there,” Bello said. “When we are closing traffic down, make sure you pay attention to the officers that are out there directing traffic.”

Since the June 23 mass shooting at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, the city has implemented a nightly 8:00 closure of the park.

“We encourage anybody, if they see something, say something,” Bello said. “Either call 911 or flag down a nearby officer so that we can address it, and again we expect everything to go off smoothly.”

The plan to close Court Street between Chestnut Street and the traffic circle at 7:00 has been postponed by the city. That’s going to last for at least this weekend.

Every night around 7:00, police officers are stationed in MLK Park. Bello claimed that after the mass shooting, nothing has gone wrong.

“Our officers have been out forming partnerships, talking with some of the community members that live down that way, and things have gone very smoothly down there and we expect them to continue to go smoothly as we move forward,” Bello said.

Leaving the fireworks to the pros will ensure a flawless evening.

“We encourage people to save the big fireworks,” Bello said. “The ones that launch in the air that are illegal in New York state, save those for the professionals and that’s why (you should) come out for the city’s display.”