How N.J. Shore Police Agencies Plan to Deal with Busy Memorial Day

Local mayors have one message to those planning to spend Memorial Day weekend at the shore: Don’t come if you don’t want to behave.

The warning comes following years of chaos on boardwalks across the Jersey Shore that resulted in numerous arrests and overwhelmed multiple police departments.

But departments in Ocean City, Sea Isle City and Wildwood are geared up to handle anything that might be thrown their way as the communities are expected to be packed with visitors.

“Our police departments will be fully staffed with every available full-time and seasonal officer, and we will have zero tolerance for any disturbance or violation of the law,” Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian and Sea Isle City Mayor Len Desiderio said in a joint statement.

Memorial Day weekend 2024 began to unravel May 24, when several teenagers were detained and later released following a fight on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Investigators determined two female juveniles were fighting and a group surrounded the scuffle.

But the issues didn’t stop there. A 15-year-old boy was stabbed on the Boardwalk the following night after a group of youths engaged in a mutual fight. One juvenile from Pleasantville was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and possession of a weapon as a result.

Throughout the weekend, police reported 1,306 “curbside warnings” in which officers addressed relatively minor infractions including alcohol, cannabis and curfew violations. There were 23 more serious “station house adjustments,” which are not criminal charges but mean the juvenile is taken to the police station and released to a parent or guardian with an obligation to perform a later community service.

Ocean City has enacted several changes in recent years to combat violence, including banning backpacks on the Boardwalk after 8 p.m. and implementing a citywide curfew of 11 p.m. for juveniles.

Gillian and Desiderio are also warning parents to pay attention to what their children are doing during the weekend.

“We also want to make it clear to parents that everybody will be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent possible,” the mayors’ statement read. “Please be aware of what your unsupervised teens may be walking into and help them stay out of trouble.”

A little farther south, Wildwood Commissioner Steve Mikulski said the city is prepared for the holiday weekend and beyond.

“We’re all ready to go,” said Mikulski, who also heads up the city’s public safety department.

Similar to Ocean City, Wildwood dealt with several issues last year that led to a state of an emergency being declared and a shutdown of its Boardwalk the morning of Memorial Day. The city lifted the emergency five hours later.

City officials said police received “an irrepressible number of calls for service” on Saturday of that weekend, most of them related to the high volume of young adults and teens in the city. Officials said the volume of calls was so high, police were unable to respond to certain calls for a time and issued requests for mutual aid from other agencies in Cape May County.

Police Chief Joseph Murphy has said the scene last year reminded him of the H2oi pop-up car rally that left two people dead in 2022.

No one died in the 2024 incidents.

Wildwood officials have also headed off more than one attempt to organize large gatherings online.

“I’m sure they haven’t changed in a year,” Mikulski said. “We have a lot of rules and regulations that are in place. If the kids don’t want to abide by the rules, we’ll call the parents.”

Those rules include a 10 p.m. curfew for people 18 and younger that will be enforced on the Boardwalk nightly, and a backpack ban.

Other safety enhancements include the installation of protective bollards on the Boardwalk, increased surveillance and police presence, enhanced social media monitoring, and updated rental property regulations to limit occupancy and deter large gatherings.

“Listen, this isn’t a suggestion — it’s the law,” Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said last month. “We’re not playing games when it comes to the safety of our boardwalk and the families who come here to enjoy themselves. You break the rules, you deal with the consequences. Plain and simple.”

The city has also increased the number of full-time police officers, from 38 to 42, with two more future officers now in the police academy.

“We’re trying to build the force, put more boots on the ground,” Mikulski said.

The state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness is ready to assist municipalities if issues arise.

Beginning Memorial Day weekend and through the summer, the agency will coordinate with businesses, law enforcement and local officials, maintain a list of large gatherings, develop security plans for venues, deploy detectives to events and boardwalks, train beach staff to identify suspicious activity and issue grants for target-hardening equipment, the agency said in a news release.

The measures are part of the agency’s “See Something, Say Something” campaign.

“As threats evolve, we continue to expand our security efforts leading into the busy summer months,” state homeland security Director Laurie Doran said in a statement. “Public vigilance plays a vital role in protecting our 141 miles of coastline, crowded boardwalks, and recreational destinations, supported by a unified law enforcement presence. Do your part to ‘Secure the Shore.’ Together, we can help deter potential threats and keep New Jersey secure.”

_______________________

© 2025 The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.

Visit www.pressofatlanticcity.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.