Backpacks could soon be banned on Wildwood’s beaches and boardwalks at night as the popular Jersey Shore town targets underage drinking and drug use following a series of incidents, includinga rowdy Memorial Day weekend crowd that led police to declare a state of emergency.
Wildwood’s board of commissioners is expected to vote Wednesday on the proposal, which would prohibit the possession of purses and backpacks “larger than 8 inches in depth” on the city’s beaches and boardwalk from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., effective immediately, according to a public meeting agenda.
Police shut down the Wildwood boardwalk early on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend after reports of fights among large groups of young people, authorities said. Similar problems occurred in other Jersey Shore towns that weekend, including a stabbing of a 15-year-old in Ocean City.
Police in both Wildwood and Seaside Heights responded to more than 1,800 calls for service during Memorial Day weekend, according to statements provided by police and records obtained by NJ Advance Media.
Police said firecrackers were hurled at officers and fights sent people running off the boardwalk and into the streets.
Wildwood police also “identified a series of incidents involving backpacks and other bags containing illegal drugs and alcohol in the possession of minors over Memorial Day Weekend and determined that the same contributed to the unruly and tumultuous behavior that led to the issuance of the local state of emergency,” the proposed new backpack ordinance states.
Law enforcement issued hundreds of curbside warnings in connection with the incidents, officials said.
Other Shore towns have implemented similar rules in recent years.
Last year, Ocean City passed a backpack ban after a series of disruptive “gatherings of drunken teens.”
Sea Isle City also prohibited backpacks on the city’s promenade, beaches and beach street-ends between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. under a new rule last summer.
Wildwood has made other changes in recent years to curb unruly teen behavior on its beaches and boardwalk. Last summer, the city enacted a beach curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily to address “disorderly conduct” by teenagers.
Some local officials are calling for a change to state laws they say prevent cops from adequately dealing with rowdy kids at the Jersey Shore.
Officials in Avalon, Seaside Heights and Sea Isle, as well as the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, are asking the state to reassess juvenile justice reforms approved in 2020 that limit when police officers can take young people committing minor offenses to the police station.
The juvenile justice reforms approved in 2020 included a 33-page directive from the state Attorney General’s office that lists a variety of steps officials should take when dealing with minors in their communities. They include giving face-to-face warnings to juveniles committing minor offense instead of taking them to a police station in many cases.
The directive also said if a young person has damaged property, police should meet with his or her family members at a police station for a “station house adjustment” and consider writing up an agreement to fix the damage.
“The new laws have hindered police,” said Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. in an email.
The backpack ban before the Wildwood board of commissioners Wednesday states that an officer can give more than a warning when:
- The officer has reason to believe that the minor is presently engaged in other, more serious unlawful conduct.
- The juvenile continues to engage in the same unlawful conduct following the issuance of a prior curbside warning.
- The minor has a pending formal complaint, demonstrating a continuing course of improper conduct, related or unrelated to the pending charge.
The new ordinance would also allow law enforcement to pursue a formal delinquency complaint against certain minors with the approval of the county prosecutor.
There are exceptions for diaper bags and bags carrying medical equipment.
The board of commissioners is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, according to the city website.
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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
