WILDWOOD, NJ (AP) — Police in a coastal New Jersey town said Saturday that “aggressive” behavior from large crowds of rowdy teenagers and young adults — not a lack of officers — was to blame. the origin of the mess that occurred over Memorial Day weekend that prompted the boardwalk’s closure.
Attorney General Matthew Platkin claimed Friday that Wildwood didn’t have enough officers assigned to the parkway, when officials said Sunday’s unrest led to nighttime closures of the parkway and calls for help from departments neighboring police stations.
Wildwood Police Chief Joseph Murphy and the department released a statement the next day calling Platkin’s claim “inaccurate and misinformed.” They said the department had more than 30 uniformed officers assigned to the parkway, more than in the past two years, but unrest involving hundreds, if not thousands, of young people began Saturday and continued Sunday with the addition of even more officers, prompting an emergency declaration. .
The statement from Murphy and the department says “the disheartening truth” is that this year’s crowds were “disobedient, erratic and aggressive toward officers,” at one point throwing firecrackers at them as they attempted to control the crowd .
“We even observed families fleeing the boardwalk toward the beach and running to the safety of the railing because hundreds of juveniles and young adults were rushing the boardwalk,” Wildwood officials said. “Even if we had deployed more than 30 police officers, the effect would be minimal in stopping this type of crowd behavior.”
Police said they requested additional help from other Cape May law enforcement agencies after Saturday’s problems and had more than 40 law enforcement officers assigned to the parkway Sunday evening. Police said they cleared the boardwalk of minors after the 10 p.m. curfew, issuing several thousand warnings, but that “a few thousand” young adults remained. Authorities decided after midnight to declare a local state of emergency and were then able to “quell the majority of the unrest” on the promenade and nearby streets, they said.
Over the holiday weekend, Wildwood police responded to 312 emergency calls, responded to 1,517 calls for service, issued thousands of warnings to juveniles and made 47 arrests, with more expected after the identifications, officials said. A police officer was injured but is expected to be fully recovered.
Some Jersey Shore City police supervisors and other officials have blamed the problems on changes the state has made in recent years to try to keep juveniles out of the justice system, saying they have emboldened teenagers and given the impression that there is little the police can do if they are arrested. With alcohol or marijuana. In January, the law was revised to remove some threats of sanctions against officers dealing with minors suspected of possessing alcohol or marijuana.
Platkin defended the law at an event Friday aimed at checking sidewalk gambling to ensure it complies with state regulations, saying nothing stops police from arresting teenagers involved in violent events. He said Wildwood “hired the fewest law enforcement officers this year that they’ve ever hired.”
Wildwood’s public safety commissioner said all departments are understaffed and more officers from the police academy will join them this month. Wildwood police promised public safety would be “the top priority” as the summer season approaches.
Ocean City, meanwhile, experienced unrest over Memorial Day weekend for the second year in a row, including the stabbing of a 15-year-old boy who was apparently recovering from injuries that were not life-threatening. Mayor Jay Gillian said on the city’s website that police brought 23 teenagers to the station for fighting, shoplifting and other offenses and issued more than 1,300 warnings for alcohol, cannabis, curfew and other violations.