The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) in the years following World War II was small but adequate for what was then a seasonal town only 25 blocks long. There was just one police car prior to 1953 and police headquarters shared a building with City Hall on Dorchester Street.
The police force was augmented for the summer season with its ranks doubled between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Many of the part-time officers were retired cops from Baltimore or school teachers on summer break. Training by today’s standards was minimal but there was little crime and less traffic. The OCPD would remain small until a Labor Day Weekend riot in the early 1960s and the expansion of city limits to the Delaware line proved the need for change.
Today’s OCPD is one of the largest and best trained in the state.