Ocean City Police Aware Of Planned, Unsanctioned College Beach Weekend Event Shawn Soper, News Editor OCEAN CITY — Resort officials are preparing for an unsanctioned event in early June that caused a ruckus in Virginia Beach last year. In April 2013, an unsanctioned College Beach Weekend event in Virginia Beach resulted in crowds estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 college-age individuals invading the town’s oceanfront area. According to reports, the big crowds roamed the streets, disrupted traffic and businesses, and generally scared local residents and other visitors. Perhaps more importantly, the event included several significant crimes including three shootings, multiple stabbings and other serious crimes all in the span of about four hours. The event was promoted extensively in social network media outlets and on college campus websites and blogs. An informal poll of the participants revealed most were from Virginia and Maryland schools, although many reportedly came from as far away as California. The same event returned to Virginia Beach last month with a decidedly different outcome. Virginia Beach Police and city officials were prepared and expanded their police presence and braced for the crowd’s arrival. Perhaps more importantly, Virginia Beach officials attempted to embrace the influx of visitors rather than take a combative stance and urged local businesses to stay open and welcome the influx of offseason business rather than shutting their doors. The results were a much calmer event with few incidents. OCPD officials this week confirmed the event is coming in the first week of June. OCPD spokesperson Lindsay O’Neal on Thursday said the town and its police department and allied law enforcement agencies are aware of some of the problems associated with the event in neighboring Virginia Beach and are following that community’s lead for a successful second event last month. “There is an unsanctioned event, College Takeover Beach Week, taking place in town the first weekend in June,” she said. “We’ve addressed the event in our Police Commission meetings, been in contact with our business community and have a very proactive strategic plan for enforcement during that weekend.” More: click below
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 11:14:40 +0000
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