SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Rowdy, large crowds of teenagers have taken some of the shine out of summer down the Shore. Several elected officials and law enforcement leaders on Wednesday joined Republican state Sen. Michael Testa for an online hearing to discuss the challenges they’re facing this year and what they can do.
A stabbing on the Ocean City boardwalk is the lowest point in a series of unfortunate events at various Shore towns already this season, which also included a state of emergency declared in Wildwood.
Testa says tourism is the lifeblood of the Shore and it needs to stay that way.
“Last year … approximately $660 million of tourism tax dollars have gone to Trenton because of the great tourism industry.”
Several officials say the mindset of teens has changed in the last few years, and most of the troublemakers feel no remorse because there are rarely any consequences for their actions.
“There has been a lack of respect for law and order on our boardwalks and our beaches,” Testa said. “It’s not partisan, it’s not bipartisan. It’s nonpartisan. It’s about tourism, which again, is the lifeblood of our economy.”
Jody Levchuk, an Ocean City boardwalk business owner and councilmember.
“People ask me, ‘What happens when you catch a shoplifter?’ Well, I’m gonna tell you,” he said. “Several years ago, 80% would cry if they got caught. Today, they laugh.”
Levchuk says he thinks this mainly boils down to parenting problems, and people should know what their kids are up to and punish them for bad behavior.
Others from towns up and down the shore said lawmakers in Trenton need to take these incidents seriously before things get even worse.
Long Branch Public Safety Director William Broughton says legislators could help by giving police more authority to go after people who organize large pop-up gatherings that devolve into chaos.
“Those are the individuals that we need to be able to impact. The people that are promoting the party. We need to be able to hold them civically liable and criminally liable.”
Testa says it’s important to note that shore towns are, in fact, safe — but many feel the situation is getting increasingly unsafe because these crowds can show up and take over an area in an instant, often drinking alcohol and smoking weed along the way.