OCEAN CITY — With the arrival of the holiday season, numerous Ocean City residents will travel to visit family in the coming weeks and others will flee winter solitude for warmer climates, but the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) has a residential security check program available for the countless vacant properties in the resort.
Through the program, homeowners and business owners can register their properties with the OCPD’s residential security check program and officers will randomly go around at different times of the day to ensure they are secure. During the registration, homeowners provide information about how long they are going to be away, what interior or exterior lights are on timers, who might be visiting the property, what vehicles might be in the driveway and any other pertinent information about the status of the property. In many cases, a spike in a utility bill can trigger an investigation.
“During the winter months, there are thousands of unoccupied residences in Ocean City and criminals are aware of this,” said OCPD spokesperson Lindsay Richard this week. “Oftentimes, a homeowner will receive a bill in the mail for their second home and that the charge has suddenly changed. That is when our officers get asked to check in the home.”
Vacant properties throughout the resort provide opportunities for would-be criminals, some who are simply looking for a place to crash for a few days and others intent on clearing them out of valuables.
“Most of the time when this happens, our officers will see that a fourth-degree burglary has occurred and the trespasser was looking for a warm place to sleep,” said Richard. “Other times, multiple items have been stolen including TVs and other valuables. To prevent either from occurring, we strongly encourage homeowners to sign up for our residential security check program. This program is totally free and available to anyone living within the corporate limits of Ocean City.”
To sign up, homeowners can visit oceancitymd.gov/police and click on the Residential Checks link on the left side of the webpage.
“After answering a few simple questions, their information will be added to our database and officers will begin checking on the home multiple times each week,” said Richard this week. “If the officer sees anything that varies from the information that the homeowner provided, they will investigate further and contact the homeowner. It’s important to note that this program is also for people that are leaving for just a few days.”
Many resort property owners close up their second homes in Ocean City and winterize them. Unfortunately, some return in the spring and find their property has been burglarized. The OCPD’s residential check program is an effective way to prevent that from happening in many cases.
The OCPD’s residential security check module is used to track residential and commercial addresses that require special monitoring. As officers patrol Ocean City, their observations and comments for the locations are captured in the department’s CAD system. When a special watch expires, a detailed report can be generated that outlines the frequency of the officer checks and any observations or unique circumstances experienced by officers for a specific address. More importantly, the security check system provides officers with enough information to quickly contact residents about their property in an emergency.
The proliferation of social media outlets allows would-be criminals the opportunity to find out who is away and how long they will be gone. Richard advised local residents to be careful about how much information they make public, including pictures of them on social media platforms such as Facebook for example. Beyond that, a handful of common sense tips can prevent resort property owners from becoming victims of crime while they are away from home.
