CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Three incidents, including a stabbing in Ocean City, cast a shadow over an otherwise lovely Memorial Day Weekend at the Jersey Shore. The Cape May County prosecutor says troublemakers are not welcome and will not be tolerated.
There was a mad dash off the boardwalk in Seaside Heights after a rumor spread Saturday about shots being fired. A 15-year-old was stabbed in Ocean City on Saturday night, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. And police in Wildwood closed down the boardwalk from midnight to 6 a.m. Monday after being flooded with calls about a large gathering of what the mayor called “unruly, undisciplined, unparented” teens.
Marleina Ubel with New Jersey Policy Perspective says while the Ocean City stabbing was very serious, the other two incidents were nothing really and she urges lawmakers not to overreact to the weekend by implementing heavy-handed enforcement initiatives, similar to the 1990s.
“And I think that what’s happening right now, these narratives that we’re seeing, and headlines, are reminiscent of that — and we should be careful,” Ubel said.
She says any sort of crackdowns or tough-on-crime policies will have a disproportionate impact on Black and low-income youth.
“We have tried this, and it doesn’t work,” she said.
John Donio is president of the Wildwood Business Improvement District. He says teens have been organizing larger crowds through social media and have been more difficult to manage than years ago.
“Normally when you see a friend group of 15-20 kids from the same school meeting up, now you’re seeing 400-500 kids meeting up and then what they’re doing is attracting other kids,” Donio said.
“But what this all boils down to, to me, is bad parenting. Where are the parents of these kids? It’s absolutely shameful.”
The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office says bad decisions and bad actions will not be tolerated and police will use all tools and laws they can to arrest and charge all violators.
But Ubel says teens have been gathering forever, and hanging out isn’t a crime. She wants everyone to keep things in perspective.
“Crime is not up. It just isn’t. It’s on a downward trend,” she said. “And not only is it on a downward trend nationally, it is on a downward trend in Seaside Heights and Wildwood.”