In 21 years on the Police Department, Chief Robert Warner has never had a 4th of July off-and neither has any of his officers.
All 34 of the department’s sworn officers and 12 auxiliary police will be on duty Monday as Batavia holds one of the area’s biggest fireworks displays.
“From day one when you get here, you just know you don’t get to take a vacation around Independence Day,” Warner said. “We just need every available body for crowd control, and with everyone working, we still don’t have enough.”
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As many as 20,000 people are expected to pack the Batavia High School sports fields, at 1200 W. Wilson St., to watch the pyrotechnic display.
Batavia’s fireworks tradition dates back more than five decades and has become city’s the largest annual event, even more popular than the Windmill City Festival.
Parking will be banned Monday night on Wilson and Main Streets between Randall Road and Van Nortwick Avenues. The roads will be closed to traffic during the display, which is scheduled to begin about 9:30 p.m. and last for about an hour.