Wildwood says 47 arrests made over Memorial Day weekend with more coming (2024)

The city of Wildwood and its police chief dispute the state attorney general's recent statement that problems with large numbers of teenagers that led to the temporary closing of the Boardwalk during Memorial Day weekend were at least in part due to insufficient police staffing.

Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin told the media on Friday during an appearance in Seaside Heights,"I don't think we had enough law enforcement officers out in Wildwood last weekend, and we're working to correct that."

On Saturday, Wildwood released a statement saying that Police Chief Joseph Murphy and the city "have been made aware of an inaccurate and ill-informed statement" by Platkin.

"We were alarmed at such a statement from the chief law enforcement officer in the State of New Jersey especially knowing that he did not directly contact us to understand what resources were in place for the weekend," Murphy said Saturday in a statement from the city.

"If an effort were made by the Attorney General to understand the situation in Wildwood, he would have been advised that the police department had in excess of forty (40) law enforcement officers assigned to our boardwalk on Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend alone - when the local state of emergency was declared."

On Sunday night of the busy holiday weekend, the city said, it was swamped with calls for help to respond to incidents of rowdy teens and young adults creating disturbances. The city sought help from neighboring police departments and wound up closing the Boardwalk overnight.

The city's police department handled 312 9-1-1 calls over the Memorial Day weekend, it said in a Facebook post, and "officers responded to one thousand five hundred and seventeen (1,517) calls for service, issued thousands of curb side warnings to juveniles, and we made forty-seven (47) arrests with more pending upon identification."

Seaside Heights also had to deal with a similar incident on its Boardwalk last weekend. Ocean City also had problems with large gatherings of teens on its Boardwalk last Friday and Saturday. Several teenagers were detained and then released to their parents that Friday night after a fight between two female juveniles. The next night, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed.

Atlantic City did not report similar problems. Police Chief James Sarkos said the force is concentrating full-time officers on the Boardwalk this summer, and that effort combined with a 10 p.m. curfew for juveniles helped keep order over the holiday weekend.

Numerous local officials and police supervisors from Jersey Shore towns, as well as the president of the statewide police union, have blamed a series of juvenile justice reforms New Jersey has enacted in recent years with emboldening teens and giving them the sense that there is little police can do to them if they are caught with alcohol or marijuana.

In his remarks Friday, Platkin said Wildwood has “hired the fewest law enforcement officers this year than they've ever hired. I don't think we had enough law enforcement officers out in Wildwood last weekend, and we're working to correct that,” he said.

The city's statement Saturday said Wildwood police "would like to assure the public that the boardwalk was staffed with more uniformed police officers this year – over 30 – than that of the two previous years. The staffing levels of law enforcement for our boardwalk is developed after thoughtful analysis: examining of the previous year’s staffing posture, holiday weekends, special events, and current situational intelligence."

"Through this process we assessed that additional uniformed law enforcement personnel were needed for the 2024 Memorial Day weekend. Several months ago, we initiated a Shared Service Agreement with the Cape May County Sheriff’s Department to ensure those additional uniformed law enforcement personnel would be available to the City of Wildwood."

The police's Facebook post concluded: "Chief Murphy would like to commend the men and women of the Wildwood Police Department along with the other law enforcement agencies in their performance this past Memorial Day weekend. Despite the difficult environment they are forced to police in, without hesitation, they placed themselves on the front lines to maintain law and order. We were fortunate to only have one officer injured during the weekend, and he should make a full recovery. We will continue to place public safety as the top priority for our department as we move into the summer season."

Press staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.