That time of the year is upon us yet again. The Baton Rouge tradition of fireworks on the levee. Last year a few model citizens of this fine city brought their own form of firepower to the levee, a few hand guns. For unknown reasons, they opened fire into the crowd after the fireworks were over with (perhaps they didn't think the finale had enough 'boom' to it) and struck a couple of people who were nothing more than innocent bystanders there to enjoy the show. One of those hit, 16 year old Kayla Smith, was hit in the torso and suffered a spinal injury that rendered her paralyzed. What for? Because a few idiots have no regard for the rest of society and choose to do whatever they want to do. Unfortunately for the thugs involved, they were caught and the justice system will have its way with them.

This year, Mayor Kip Holden and Police Chief Jeff Leduff vow to crack down on any violence or potential violence during the festivities. Holden says that they are adding extra police and using some other crime fighting tactics to control the crowds. He also stated that "We're not here to babysit your child. We're not going to sit idly by and let a few little jerks come in and really destroy a family event".

Hopefully this year will be an event that goes by without incident, but it wouldnt surprise me if there was another shooting or at the very least, some sort of violent incident. These guys knew the place was littered with police and law enforcement last year and that didnt seem to stop them. Whats different about this year? I fear that the event as a whole will suffer a HUGE decline in attendance due in part to the shootings last year and just the overall increase in violence in the Baton Rouge area. I mean, really, who wants to go downtown and be caught in the middle of some gang war or violence, not to mention the traffic. I'm sure most people will just decide to stay home, barbecue and shoot off their own fireworks. I just bought a new DSLR camera and would love to be at a nice spot on the levee getting some good night shots of the action, but I don't see that happening. I'll just download everyone else's photos this weekend. Besides, I don't have a bullet proof vest handy.