NJ police president calls for consequences after Wildwood unrest

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (CBS) — In the wake of a chaotic Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore, the leader of New Jersey’s police union is calling for harsher penalties for kids and adults displaying bad behavior at the beach.

In a pair of social media posts, New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association President Peter Andreyev said “more needs to be done to allow police to protect our communities,” and that the holiday weekend unrest is more proof that “there needs to be real consequences for violent, drunken, and dangerous behavior for both juveniles and adults.”

“Having no consequences for bad behavior has proved itself again to be a failed criminal justice policy,” he continued.

Andreyev, who was sworn in as president of the NJSPBA on May 7, made the comments after a series of recent incidents at multiple South Jersey shore towns.

In Ocean City, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed and taken to the hospital after a fight broke out on the boardwalk on Saturday, May 25. Ocean City Police Department Sgt. Dan Lancaster said Monday that the incident remains under investigation and no one’s been arrested in connection with the stabbing yet.

Mayor Jay Gillian assured beachgoers in a statement that his office “will not tolerate” fights, disorderly conduct and other bad behavior this summer, and issued a clear message to both parents and teenagers: “If you don’t want to behave, don’t come.”

On Thursday afternoon, Ocean City police and city officials are scheduled to hold a press conference announcing a series of new public safety measures to protect public safety on the boardwalk and around town.

Source: Michael Bocchieri / Getty

Wildwood also dealt with its share of chaos over the weekend, so much so that city officials and police issued a state of emergency in the early morning hours of Memorial Day and shut down the boardwalk.

The city and police said “numerous incidents of civil unrest” prompted the order, and explained that starting on Saturday and continuing into early Monday, the department was inundated with calls for service “related to an “extremely large number of young adults and juveniles” in town for the holiday weekend.

Unable to respond to all the calls, officials moved forward with declaring a state of emergency. After being in effect for several hours early Monday, the order was lifted at 6 a.m.

Earlier in the week, Cape May County Commissioner Director Len Desiderio said he’ll meet with the county prosecutor and sheriff to discuss how county resources can help local law enforcement deal with “unrest” on boardwalks.