After Ocean City boardwalk stabbings, leaders call for giving police more power to contain youth crowds

Ocean City leaders held a news conference on the boardwalk Thursday afternoon to ensure better solutions to avoid the types of unrest that took place over Memorial Day weekend, including a brawl that led to the stabbing of a 15-year-old boy Saturday evening. .

“The incidents this Memorial Day weekend were unacceptable,” said Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian.

In the days following the stabbing in Ocean City and a state of emergency declared Monday in Wildwood due to large crowds of young people, Cape May County law enforcement officials called the State to reevaluate juvenile justice reforms adopted by the Attorney General's Office in 2020. The reforms were intended to address racial disparities and avoid saddling juveniles with records that could limit their future prospects.

“Unfortunately, what the attorney general did at the time was handcuff the officers,” Cape May County Executive Commissioner Len Desiderio said Thursday.

Jersey Shore communities have struggled to contain large crowds of teenagers and young adults in recent summers. This trend, often amplified by videos widely shared on social media, has worried local leaders because it could discourage law-abiding people from visiting their beaches.

Ocean City Police Chief Bill Campbell said officers have limited authority to address common problems such as underage drinking and marijuana use. He said when officers detect these behaviors, they can only give minors written warnings and confiscate their alcohol and marijuana. And in the absence of a clear reason to investigate teenagers, police cannot demand that minors share their names, addresses or identification.

“Over the last three or four years, overall, we feel like we've lost some ground,” Campbell said.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on complaints from law enforcement and other officials in recent days. New Jersey State Police Charity Association President Peter Andreyev also criticized the state's laws on Wednesday.

“Recent outbreaks of youth violence are a sign that more must be done to enable police to protect our communities,” Andreyev said. “Last weekend is further proof that the law is being broken. There must be real consequences for violent, drunken and dangerous behavior, for both minors and adults.”

New Jersey Rep. Antwan L. McClellan (R), who represents parts of Cape May and Cumberland counties, said he and his colleagues plan to work on legislation that would give police more legal tools to discourage and respond to unruly minors.

“This is not a partisan issue,” McClellan said. “It’s along the coast.”

Last year, Ocean City led the way in attempting to hold local police accountable by passing a local ordinance for “violation of the peace” violations, which cover a wide range of behavior from vandalism to excessive noise and when fireworks are set off. Instead of simply warning minors, the ordinance allows police officers to take them to the police station to be held and picked up by a parent or guardian. The city also imposed an 8 p.m. curfew on its beaches, a citywide 11 p.m. curfew for minors and a ban on carrying backpacks on the boardwalk.

In most cases, juveniles detained in Ocean City are not formally arrested or charged. They undergo adjustments at the police station that require them to perform community service, which can include picking up trash and washing cars.

“That's usually the route we take for first-time offenders rather than charges,” Campbell said.

Saturday night's fight on the boardwalk led to adjustments at the station for at least seven juveniles involved. The stabbing suspect remains at large and has not been identified, Campbell said. All identified teens knew each other and were visiting Ocean City from communities in Atlantic County.

“No out-of-state vacationers or Ocean City residents were targeted,” Campbell said.

The city could consider adopting additional local ordinances to support policing, but Campbell declined to elaborate on what that might entail. He said the first step would be to deploy 20 new seasonal officers to the promenade to help monitor crowds.

“Not all of these kids are bad; 95 percent of them are great,” Desiderio said. “It’s only a small percentage that makes things happen.”

But Desiderio pleaded with parents to keep an eye on their children and make sure their whereabouts are known this summer.

“They can't come into our county and disrupt things. We won't allow it,” he said. “We’re not going to tolerate any bullshit.”