Tourism Security More Than Locked Doors, Teens’ Apps May Link to Shore Strangers

CREST HAVEN – “I want people to know the cameras are out there,” said Detective Bryan Hamilton of Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office May 7 at the 20th annual Cape May County Tourism Conference. Hamilton spoke of surveillance cameras on the Boardwalk in North Wildwood and Wildwood on the matter of tourism security.
Those cameras may make “bad guys think the cameras are all along there. Maybe they will not want to mug someone there and go to another county,” he said.
While surveillance cameras have a cold eye on possible criminal activity, Hamilton warned of an even greater potential threat, especially to young visitors, something closer to them than their T-shirts and shorts: their cellphone and its apps.
“What I am seeing is a lot of things connected with apps on phones,” Hamilton said, holding up his cellphone.
Because such devices have a location-finding mechanism, young users may unwittingly give away their vacation site to a predator posing as a peer teenager. Hamilton cited Tinder, a dating app, and Grindr, another dating app as showing a person’s location if they seek a date.
“Kids 14, 15, 13 or 12 have no idea who they are meeting,” he said. “We want to relay that to tourists and your customers that someone may have an eye on these. Have them discuss it with their children. Realize people down there are strangers. Enter your position on your app and they may be looking to assault you.”
“Children have been hurt,” he said, because such apps “give your location away.”
He also cautioned using Craigslist seeking dating partners since robberies or assaults could take place with strangers.
“Again, this is Cape May County. It’s very, very rare, but I have seen it. I would not use those things,” said Hamilton. “Take your kids’ phones and ask what apps are they using? And do they realize this app gives your location away?”
Further, Hamilton urged use of Wi-Fi, but with caution, since a third-party criminal may seek a public Wi-Fi site to swipe financial information or bank passwords by using a name that seems legitimate.
Many hotels, which use magnetic “key” cards, have taken a security precaution of not printing the room number on those cards. Instead, Hamilton said, they give the customer the information on a separate paper. That way, if the card is lost, there is no way for the finder to enter a hotel room and enter for criminal purposes.
Tourism in Cape May County put $5.5 billion into the local economy in 2013. It created 25,000 direct jobs, and indicators are that tourists are “anxious to get back,” said Freeholder E. Marie Hayes at the outset of the conference.
A retiree after 29 years from the County Prosecutor’s Office, Hayes said she “saw the importance of a safe environment for visitors. Tourism security is the buzzword.” She noted “Eighty percent of visitors return to this county because it was a safe and very friendly place to get away.”
Christopher Pike, director of Impact Analysis Tourism Economics, gave a detailed update of tourism, and its effects on the county. For example, he said there were “more than 35,000 jobs supported by tourism in Cape May County, more than 1,000 jobs per mile of beach supported by Cape May visitors.”
He also stated, “The estimated $135 million in sales taxes along with the $9.4 million in bed taxes collected from visitors’ activity in Cape May County would nearly fully fund the county budget of around $146 million.”
Without tourist, Pike noted “The average household would need to contribute more than $5,000 to make up for the state and local taxes collected from Cape May visitors.”
Diane Wieland, county tourism director, hopes for a better June start to the season than in 2013 when the occupancy tax was “down $94,000” and in July was “cut in half to $47,000, but the fall took us over the top.”
She noted retail figures show tourists are “moving around the county that is important.” Thus, it is not only seashore resorts that benefit from the tourists’ dollars.
Agri-tourism is on the upswing, Wieland said. There are “farm-to-table” initiatives for restaurants to use local produce on their menus, as well as Cape May Salt Oysters to tempt seafood lovers.
Those, in addition to wineries, breweries and vineyards give tourists things to see and taste when days are cloudy or not conducive to beach and boardwalk.
U-pick farms and farmers markets abound because “Visitors want to know about fresh produce, that corn doesn’t come from a can,” she added.
Another speaker was Joseph Vasil, coordinator, N.J. Motor Vehicle Commissioner security. He focused on the importance of authenticity when issuing driver’s licenses. While the small wallet card may “basically be a snapshot of your driving skill, it is the most trusted form of ID in the U.S. today,” Vasil said. A driver’s license can be used to board aircraft, undertake financial transactions and enter government buildings where photo ID is required.
“A license allowed you to float freely through society virtually undetected,” he added. He verified that statement by citing a fact that 18 of the 19 hijackers who participated in the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 had valid U.S. driver’s licenses. “How can you get a valid ID illegally?” he asked. “Walk into a motor vehicle officer and dupe a clerk of bribe a clerk.” He noted that is why clerks in MVC agencies are trained to spot fraudulent records.
Vasil said some bribes of $10,000 have been offered in an attempt to secure a driver’s license.
If businesses require the licenses for sale of goods or services, Vasil urged that a blacklight be used to check holograms and other features of drivers’ licenses. Those who wish to contact him directly for information about license security features may contact him at: joe.vasil@dot.state.nj.us or call him at (609) 633-9493.