fighting agency.
ply here. For me here, I'm looking at
the systems and the processes in
place to make sure we are as effec-
tive and progressive as we possibly
can be. The bottom line here is we
want anyone who comes into town
to enjoy themselves. That's what
Ocean City is all about, and I think
that's what most people think of
Conversely, if anyone wants to
come into town and wreak havoc, I
want them to know we are going to
be ready, willing and able to be
aggressive and if we have to arrest
them and prosecute them to the
fullest extent of the law. That's for
the overall safeguard of the town.
economic swings noticed here
have been discussed a lot. Do
you have a philosophy on that?
Ocean City wants to cater to fam-
ilies, but some believe fewer fam-
ilies are coming and being re-
placed by an unwelcomed ele-
ment.
is we want everyone to come here
and enjoy themselves and also
behave themselves and leave their
mark in a positive manner.
takes to maintain peace and order
on the Boardwalk within the param-
eters of the law. Some of our con-
cerns on the Boardwalk lie with
some of the items being sold and
what type of element does that
attract. We talk about beer bongs,
underage drinking, explicit T-shirts
and there are still merchants that
sell knives. Why does anyone need
to sell knives on the Boardwalk?
They are not Swiss Army knives by
the way just for clarification. We
have seen an uptick in weapons vio-
lations. Is that a causal type of phe-
nomenon? We are looking at that.
ed on a community relationship. It's
also the relationship of the mer-
chants and the merchants policing
themselves. It's the lease owners as
well who need to police themselves
and talk with the leasees. They
have to give us a helping hand. We
need to clean up some things, quite
honestly, as we move forward.
`Senior Week 2013' they are not
drinking milk out of that. Who buys
that? Certainly, not us. What do you
use those items for? It's clear. Shirts
that promote or glorify the drug cul-
ture do not need to be promoted in
the community.
have seen this growing proliferation.
For a while, we were a head shop
on the Boardwalk until we address-
ed that. We need to talk with the
son's lease allowing them to sell
those types of items? The onus has
to go back to the property owners,
to an extent. You reap what you
sow. If you're going to allow that
kind of merchandise in your space,
you are going to create challenges
for all of us, particularly tourism in
Ocean City.
store blasting inappropriate music
with a Rasta man smoking a fatty. It
motivates less than respectable
behavior and mannerism. On top of
that, we as a community are now
facing conduct issues that could be
a result of those kinds of things.
been vocalized and that's proba-
bly because it involves dictating
to private enterprise how to gov-
ern operations. You have identi-
fied a problem. What's the practi-
cal solution?
something I take very seriously. If I
see there's something that's at the
detriment of public safety, then I'm
going to be vocal about it.
not remain quiet about that because
of the dangers that causes and its
inappropriate use. There's no real
legitimate use for it, particularly at
the beach. I have a responsibility to
public safety.
merchant association, the commu-
nity at large, education or through
enforcement. I think all of these
types of entities have to come
together and we have to find some
common ground as we move for-
ward. We are a big part of it, but we
need that assistance. We need to
be met half way. It's important to
note we will do our part, but when it
comes to things that are obvious
and it's obvious to the majority of
the public, my feeling is help us out.
are already illegal, counterfeit mer-
chandise and sexually-explicit mer-
chandise that is legally not allowed
to be displayed. It doesn't mean it
can't be sold, but it can't be display-
ed. Nothing in that precludes vulgar-
ity, which is a First Amendment
right. It's protected speech. When
you see the drug culture stuff and
other things, it's not illegal. You can
display that all the way out in front
and we have received a lot of com-
plaints from citizens about that. It's
challenging as a department to find
that balance. Why do we need a
case of weapons on Boardwalk
front? What's next? Are we going to
put a gun shop on the Boardwalk,
too?
ers to meet us half way. I under-
stand free enterprise and capital-
ism, but there has to be some type
of meeting us half way. We need to
have a change in products, mer-
chandise, attitude and culture.
thing that can be done within
your existing budget or will more
resources be needed? It seems
logical the cameras will need a
funding injection. Outside of that,
do you need more cops?
within the parameters of the budget.
More money would obviously be
great and allow us to introduce
more things, but we have to be real-
istic. Can I get the job done within
that budget? Absolutely. Can I get
the job done with the current force
contingent? Absolutely and we can
do it in a manner that provides
Ocean City with the safest commu-
nity possible.
was a late-night stabbing when a
man was dumped in a hotel lobby
and the victim refused to cooper-
ate with police on who did it. The
alleged link to gang activity was
what was most disturbing. Are
to be cognizant that we may have
individuals who come into Ocean
City and spend time in Ocean City.
That is a reality, but gangs as a
whole and gang activity, we are not
seeing that as problematic. We are
very cognizant and fortified in our
abilities if we did start to see a prob-
lem with the proliferation of gangs or
gang activities. We would be able to
address it. That's getting back to the
items we are introducing as we
move forward and expanding our
intelligence and our partnerships
with allied agencies and our local
sources of information from within
the town.
ited by people in gangs. We had the
July 4th incident from a couple
years ago where the kids that were
arrested told us it was an inadver-
tent meeting of two rival gangs from
Salisbury. We were very public and
transparent about that. It did cause
a lot of discussion.
The victim provided extremely limit-
ed information. The outcome of that
creates an issue. He was taken into
the hotel by people he was with and
they left. Having said that, you have
to understand we are going to be
visited by all kinds of people, some
we really enjoy having and some we
would rather not.
fact pedestrian, bicycle and
scooter accidents are down sig-
nificantly. There have been no fa-
talities reported and as of earlier
this month accidents were down
50 percent. What do you attribute
that to?
went back and did our research.
Where those pedestrian accidents
took place, how they occurred and
when. All that information was cull-
ed together and our partners team-
ed up on education and enforce-
ment. The State Highway Adminis-
tration has been invaluable as well.
amount of credit. We would still be
analyzing the situation had we not
had a crime analyst who was track-
ing it diligently. He was able to pro-
vide information to State Highway
that they would have had to conduct
a study to get. We would still be a
year out if that occurred. All the im-
provements, safety enhancements
and education were really largely
based and predicated on the data
compiled and coordinated and ana-
lyzed. All of that was given to these
agencies so money and time could
be spent fixing things and enhanc-
ing safety. I think an over 50-percent
reduction in these accidents has far
exceeded any expectations. The
analyst was instrumental in getting
that data in a timely fashion and the
importance of that cannot be under-
scored.
parameters of the law. Some of our concerns on the Boardwalk lie with some of the items
being sold and what type of element does that attract. We talk about beer bongs, under-
age drinking, explicit T-shirts and there are still merchants that sell knives. Why does any-
one need to sell knives on the Boardwalk? They are not Swiss Army knives by the way
just for clarification. We have seen an uptick in weapons violations. Is that a causal type
of phenomenon? We are looking at that."
where we want them. I want the officers to be proactive and I want them to go out there
and maximize their time on the street. Those indicators are showing that's happening.
That along with calls for service going down and crime being reduced by 11 percent, last
year we were up 5 percent, ... for me, I say there's a lot of work to be done but we are
moving in the right direction."
time in Ocean City. That is a reality, but gangs as a whole and gang activity, we are not
seeing that as problematic. We are very cognizant and fortified in our abilities if we did
start to see a problem with the proliferation of gangs or gang activities. We would be able
to address it. That's getting back to the items we are introducing as we move forward and
expanding our intelligence and our partnerships with allied agencies and our local sources
of information from within the town."