Key people in the discussion over the future of fireworks say they’re generally happy with the drop in illegal activity that took place over the New Year’s holiday, the first under a stricter law that bans sparklers, fountains and other consumer novelty pyrotechnic products.

"We were hoping for voluntary compliance, and the majority of the public obeyed the law," said Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha, who supported the stricter law. "You could see and hear the difference all over Oahu. We are definitely moving in the right direction, although there is still work to be done."

Honolulu Police Department dispatchers received 40 percent fewer fireworks complaints during the New Year’s holiday week than they did a year ago, HPD officials said Tuesday.

HPD received 854 calls from Dec. 26 through Monday. It received 1,408 fireworks-related calls during the same period in 2010 and 1,840 calls during 2009.

Police made no fireworks-related arrests this year compared with three a year ago. There were 27 fireworks-related citations issued for violations, down substantially from 309 issued for New Year’s 2010.

This was the first New Year’s celebration held under a new, much more prohibitive fireworks bill in effect on Oahu. The new ordinance prohibits the sale, use or possession of all nonfirecracker consumer fireworks, including sparklers and fountains.

City Councilman Romy Cachola, who opposed the stiffer fireworks law when it passed in October 2010, said he spent the holiday at his brother’s house in Waipahu.

"There was way less" than in previous years, Cachola said. "We did not see a lot of big, illegal fireworks."

Based on what he saw, "I guess there is some effect (with the new bill)," he said.

Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard, who heads the Council’s Safety Committee, said she’s heard mixed reviews. "I know in some neighborhoods they saw a definite improvement" in air and noise quality this New Year’s holiday, she said. "I know that in other neighborhoods there didn’t appear to be any change at all."

Gabbard, who was not in office when the bill passed, said the public needs to consider the main reasons that most fireworks were banned: the health and safety of the public.

The Honolulu Fire Department earlier this week also reported a 14 percent drop in the number of calls received.

Based on the deep drop in fireworks-related incidents during the first Independence Day under the new law, this New Year’s was "still busier than we expected it to be," Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig said. But on the positive side, complaints used to start coming in around Thanksgiving about illegal percussive bombs going off, he said. However, last Thanksgiving, "we had none of that, and that’s a positive sign," Seelig said.

James Ireland, director of the Department of Emergency Services, said two people were taken to hospitals in serious condition with fireworks-related injuries. Two others were hospitalized with smoke-related conditions.

State Rep. Marilyn Lee, who pushed for stiffer fireworks laws, said her Mililani High School neighborhood experienced 15 to 20 percent of the fireworks it has in previous years.

"I don’t think anybody really expected there to be absolutely nothing," she said.

Sen. Will Espero, who headed the state’s illegal fireworks task force, said he still wants lawmakers to pass a bill that would provide resources for the state to conduct spot inspections on incoming cargo ships from the mainland to stop illegal aerials from arriving on Hawaii’s shores.

HPD Capt. Andrew Lum said that officers posed as potential buyers and tried, unsuccessfully, to purchase firecrackers without permits from vendors.