Thieves Hurting Cape May County Economy

To The Editor:
I would like to address an under-publicized issue which is hurting the Cape May County economy. As everyone knows, many people in the county are paid either directly or indirectly by tourism dollars. During the season, tourists pump millions of dollars into the economy. Of course when we think of tourists, we think of the folks who stay in hotels or rent homes, but there is a hidden tourist, the camper.
If a campground has 600 or more campsites, each of whom pay around $4,200 per season, we can see that we’re talking about a substantial amount of money, not to mention, the money spent on gas to travel there each weekend, the cash paid to restaurants, stores, beach badges, casinos and of course the boardwalk.
Unfortunately, there are some people who think about the campers as easy pickings. They know that once the season ends the campers leave, but their belongings stay behind, entrusted to the care of the campground. Unfortunately, thieves find it all too easy to access campgrounds, and to basically go shopping. Trailers have been broken into and electronics have been taken, and someone decided to visit the campground with bolt cutters and trailers so they could cut the chains locking up golf carts and steal them. Now we’re not talking ordinary golf carts here, most have been lifted up. They have backseats instead of club holders, nice paint jobs and so on and so forth. Mine is blue with yellow flames, was chained by a heavy metal chain and padlock to the axle of my trailer and it’s gone; they even took the chain.
These are large items and very distinctive in appearance, which leads us to believe that someone saw them somewhere. If any readers have any information, please contact the State Police. They are investigating the crimes.
And how does this affect other residents? Well, the thievery has been going on for a few years now, and each year that people are victimized, they leave. Maybe they’ll stay home, maybe they’ll take their dollars and spend them in Delaware, but they’re pulling the cash out of your economy.
How much more can we afford to lose when times are tough? I have a photo of my stolen cart; visit Facebook page “Stolen in New Jersey.” It’s free to post photos of items that have been stolen, so take advantage of the site. But most importantly, we need to find these thieves and put a stop to them. They’re not just hurting the people they steal from, they’re hurting all everyone.
SAMANTHA PAPPAS
Middlesex