Officials in Ocean City, New Jersey -- including Mayor Jay Gillian, Police Chief Bill Campbell and others -- discussed the steps they are taking to improve public safety after crowds were caught on camera fleeing through neighborhoods when a teen was stabbed on the boardwalk on May 25.
Cape May County Commission Director Len Desiderio also attended the Thursday afternoon press conference.
“We don’t want to give any of these kids a record,” Desiderio said. “We want them to grow up to be law abiding citizens. We want them to go to college if they choose. We want them to get good jobs. And we want them to be productive citizens. But they can’t come to our county and disrupt things. We are not going to allow it.”
Desiderio is one of several legislators who have spoken out following the stabbing in Ocean City, NJ -- along with a state of emergency that was issued in Wildwood, NJ -- on, what he called, "a few violent, lawless young people walking our boardwalks looking for innocent victims to terrorize and assault."
"We will not tolerate this, and we will not let these thugs steal Summer from our families, our businesses, and our visiting friends," Desiderio wrote in a statement earlier this week.
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Following the weekend attack, two Republican state senators -- Joe Pennacchio (NJ-26) and Robert Singer (NJ-30) -- have pushed for the passage of legislation that, they claim, would "empower police to prevent future incidents."
“The dreadful activity in Ocean City was completely out of control and totally unacceptable. It was yet another preventable incident, and it should never have happened, but the Legislature dropped the ball,” Pennacchio wrote in a statement in support of the legislation. “Our bill would provide communities and law enforcement with the tools necessary to combat these riots. If it was passed when it was introduced, maybe we wouldn’t be worrying about the next ‘event’ that could erupt in violence, property damage and business interruption during the crucial summer season. This will continue to happen until the legislative leaders in Trenton step up.”
The legislators noted that this bill would expand the categories of riot to include aggravated riot, inciting a riot and aggravated inciting a riot.
It also includes a provision that would allow for legislators or attorneys in any municipality whose tentative budget "contains a funding reduction to the operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency" to appeal that proposed reduction.
“Riots and vandalism will drive visitors away and devastate the summer season. As a state, we cannot afford that,” added Singer. “Make no mistake, these are not peaceful gatherings. Organizers solicit young people to come out and cause trouble. They create situations that are volatile and dangerous. Under our legislation, we can stop these riots before they get out of hand.”
While officials said during Thursday’s press conference that the incidents that took place over Memorial Day weekend were unacceptable and would not be tolerated, they stopped short of announcing new ordinances for unruly teens. They did reveal, however, that 24 additional seasonal Ocean City officers will graduate next week and about 20 of them will be assigned to the boardwalk full-time through Labor Day.
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