Police logs from Cape May County beach towns revealed that police departments received their usual multitude of calls over the Memorial Day weekend, but that there were few serious crimes.
In Wildwood, Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski, the city’s director of public safety, said that the boardwalk had high crowd volumes over the weekend but that the Police Department kept the situation under control.
Bolstered by the New Jersey State Police Target Hardening Unit and the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office, the Police Department made at least two arrests and performed numerous backpack inspections on the boardwalk, as well as enforcing the city’s 10 p.m. juvenile curfew.
According to Mikulski, additional law enforcement assets included two mounted horses on the boardwalk on Friday, May 23, and Saturday, May 24, to clear the boardwalk of all minors.
“I have been in constant communication with (Police Chief Joe Murphy) over the weekend, and he feels that the situation is currently under control,” Mikulski said on May 25. “The chief and I are cautiously optimistic about the current state of affairs. … I heard there were many issues in Seaside and Ocean City last night.”
According to news reports, there were at least 73 arrests over the holiday weekend in Seaside Heights as a result of what was described as chaos, resulting in its boardwalk being shut down. Reports of between three and six people being stabbed in Seaside Heights circulated on social media.
A carnival in Woodbridge was shut down by police after hundreds of teens showed up and several fights broke out.
The events in those towns prompted Gov. Phil Murphy to sign legislation June 2 increasing penalties for those who incite public brawls, perhaps starting from “pop-up” parties. If at least four people are engaged in disorderly conduct, the instigators can be charged with inciting a public brawl. Inciting a public brawl is considered a fourth-degree crime, and violators face a $10,000 fine and up to 18 months in jail.
Locally, between Friday, May 23, and Sunday, May 25, Wildwood recorded 1,022 calls for service. The calls covered the gamut of incidents, including medical emergencies, motor vehicle stops and a suspicious vehicle, among many others; however, most of the calls were for quality of life issues. Some calls were officer-initiated.
Wildwood call logs indicate that, over the three days, there were 153 calls for local ordinance violations, including smoking on the boardwalk (9), alcohol on the boardwalk (16), E-bike violations (21), having a bike on the boardwalk after permitted hours (32) and wearing a backpack on the boardwalk (84).
The police also handled various noise complaints, intoxicated persons complaints and juvenile curfew complaints. Over three days there were 11 calls for fights, 11 disorderly conduct calls, including two for failure to disperse, and eight verbal dispute calls. There were also several calls for theft or shoplifting.
The Wildwood Police Department conducted nine K-9 explosive sweeps, which were not related to calls but were a proactive measure to ensure public safety. The North Wildwood Police Department and Wildwood Crest Police also recorded K-9 explosive sweeps.
In North Wildwood, the police recorded 580 calls for the three days between May 23 and May 25. The department handled 27 disorderly persons calls in the three days; some were for noise and others for harassment. There were 16 calls for fights, nine calls for noise, five for theft, and four to respond to criminal mischief.
One such call ended up being a disorderly persons incident that started with someone throwing a banana. The suspects were advised to take their activities indoors for the night.
There were two incidents that ended up as aggravated assaults on a law enforcement officer.
The Wildwood Crest Police also experienced a number of calls for quality of life issues, such as noise violations, but also logged 15 calls for disorderly persons offenses. There were five fights reported over the three days; one was recorded as an aggravated assault and one as a simple assault. There was also one report of fraud using a credit card and one report of a missing person.
In Sea Isle City, traffic stops and municipal ordinance violations led the call tally, but noise and disorderly persons/noise calls were prominent, with 14 and 24 respectively. There were also 15 calls for disorderly conduct/harassment. There were only three fights listed over the three days, and one dispute call. The remainder of the 383 calls covered a range of concerns, from lost and found articles to the disposal of an injured animal.
Avalon had 487 calls logged for the three days. There were 50 calls for disorderly persons or disorderly conduct, and 11 noise complaints. There were 55 calls for bike violations. One of these was noted as a warning for juveniles violating a red light on their bikes. There were four bike thefts reported and one fight. There was one report of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Neighboring Stone Harbor had 271 calls logged for the three days, including six disorderly conduct reports and four noise complaints. There was one bike reported stolen and one report of a dispute being handled by police. The department did log one call for an aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon.
The Cape May Police Department, which also covers West Cape May and Cape May Point, logged 210 calls for the three days, May 23 to May 25, including six disorderly conduct calls and four noise complaints. There were two disputes, one domestic situation and one missing person.
Mikulski said no issues were reported at the beach in Wildwood over the holiday weekend.
“I’m grateful that we were able to disseminate information early and maintain a family-friendly atmosphere,” he said. “The situation is much improved compared to last year.”
Leading up to and during the holiday weekend, the Wildwood department repeatedly posted on social media a message reading “Every Night Is a Family Night” reminding readers of the 10 p.m. curfew, which requires minors to be accompanied by an adult guardian.
According to North Wildwood Mayor Patrick Rosenello, the situation in North Wildwood was “overall, pretty good,” with one of the biggest concerns being with younger, rowdy people on the beach leaving trash.
According to Det. Lt. Dan Lancaster of the Ocean City Police Department, the Memorial Day weekend was largely uneventful, with no major incidents to report.
“The department conducted very pro-active enforcement of the juvenile and beach curfews, which we believe assisted in curbing any major incidents,” Lancaster said.
He said additional officers were assigned both Friday and Saturday night to assist the regularly scheduled officers already on duty. He said no outside agencies were requested or necessary to handle to call volume or enforcement activity.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
