By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Sea Isle City was forced to respond to an outburst of rowdy teenage behavior that threatened to disrupt the last few weeks of the busy summer tourism season in 2021.
Following complaints about foul language, underage drinking, vandalism and theft, the city increased police patrols in popular areas of town and also closed off the entrances to the beaches each night at 10 p.m. to prevent large groups of teens from making trouble.
Using the experience gained last year, Sea Isle police are already taking steps to prevent a replay of 2021. Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer season, provided a sneak preview of how police intend to defuse any potential flare-ups of trouble this year.
“I think what we want to do is let the juveniles know that we’re going to be out early – in the beginning of the summer,” said Capt. Anthony Garreffi, officer in charge of the Sea Isle Police Department.
Garreffi said there will be a heavy police presence throughout the summer on the beaches and oceanfront Promenade at night to discourage groups of unruly teens.
“That’s a big thing we can do to prevent them from gathering in one place,” he said in an interview.
“We’re going to put every officer available where we have crowds of juveniles,” he continued. “We’re going to keep them off the railings (along the Promenade) and off the beach after hours.”
Over the Memorial Day weekend, police issued a total of 156 warnings to teenagers who were sitting on the railings of the Promenade or violating the 10 p.m. beach curfew. Most of those warnings were given to groups of juveniles consisting of about 10 to 15 teens, Garreffi said.
Garreffi said five warnings were also given out to teens for underage drinking over the holiday weekend. Police followed up by contacting the parents of the teens who were drinking in public.
The warnings are known in police parlance as “curbside adjustments” or “curbside warnings.” A December 2020 directive by former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal requires officers to give curbside warnings to juveniles who are engaging in minor acts of delinquency instead of detaining or arresting them.
For instance, if a juvenile is in possession of drugs or alcohol, police can do nothing more than issue a warning. Juveniles are not required to give police their names. Police are also limited in notifying the parents of juveniles.
The curbside warnings are part of broader reforms in New Jersey’s justice system “to demonstrate to juveniles that police officers are present to give guidance, direction, and assistance, and not simply to take them into custody,” according to the directive.
During a spate of rowdiness by groups of teenagers and young adults at the Jersey Shore communities last summer, there were complaints from some local, county and state officials that the directive had effectively handcuffed police from doing their job.
Police are limited to a “surround, observe and babysit mode” when they approach rowdy juveniles now, Ocean City Police Chief Jay Prettyman said during a law enforcement summit held in Sea Isle last February to discuss how to prevent another outbreak of bad behavior this summer.
Moreover, the 2020 directive restricts police in how far they can go to investigate juveniles. It puts police at risk of being charged with a third-degree crime for depriving juveniles of their civil rights if they are searched without sufficient cause.
Local, county and state officials from Cape May County have been calling for Gov. Phil Murphy and his administration to make changes that would, as Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio puts it, “swing the pendulum” back in favor of the police to help them deal with rowdy teens.
However, Garreffi said there have been no changes made yet with the juvenile laws, meaning that police must follow the same restrictions as last year when they approach teenagers.
“I don’t want to say it will deter us from doing our job. We’re still going to do our job,” Garreffi said.
Ultimately, Garreffi believes that parents must assume a stronger role in disciplining their teenage children who are caught by police using alcohol or marijuana.
“I hope parents take the alcohol and marijuana warnings seriously. The discipline needs to come from home,” he said.
In the meantime, Sea Isle will have additional seasonal officers and new surveillance cameras this summer as part of the police department’s overall strategy for public safety.
Cameras are expected to be installed by the Fourth of July along the busiest parts of the Promenade. There will also be new cameras installed in Sea Isle’s bar district between 38th and 40th streets as well as the playground on John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Garreffi said.
The cameras will be linked to the police department for live images. They will allow police to quickly respond to potential trouble spots and also serve as an additional investigative tool, Garreffi explained.
“Hopefully, people knowing that they are under surveillance will deter them from doing anything wrong,” he said.
Sea Isle will have 20 seasonal officers this summer to supplement the full-time police force. Among their duties, the seasonal officers will be part of the patrols to prevent rowdy teenage behavior.
Garreffi said he would like to have 35 seasonal officers, but Sea Isle and other shore towns are struggling to hire enough summer cops. In recent years, the number of seasonal applicants has dropped at shore police departments, creating a hardship for beach towns during the busy tourism season.
“A lot of departments are having a problem getting enough seasonal employees, and we are one,” Garreffi said of Sea Isle.
He said the reason for the declining number of applicants isn’t clear, although he speculated it may be due to “not enough interest” in policing as a summer job. Traditionally, seasonal police work is a pathway for young officers to establish a career in law enforcement.
