OCEAN CITY — The Town of Ocean City followed through this week on an initiative to paint a “thin blue line” along a section of 65th Street in support of the resort’s police department.
In December, the Mayor and Council approved a measure that began at the police commission level to paint a “thin blue line” in support of law enforcement on the section of 65th Street between Coastal Highway and the Public Safety Building, which houses the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) headquarters. The concept is the OCPD officers would see the thin blue line each and every time they arrive at or depart from police headquarters and know that they have the support of the town and the entire community.
In January, it came to light the Federal Highway Administration (FAA) had sent letters to officials in Ocean City, N.J. and other coastal communities where similar efforts have been undertaken, asserting that the painting of a blue line in the roadway could be in violation of federal laws. The FAA warned Ocean City, New Jersey and other communities federal funding for highway projects could be withheld if they moved forward with the painting of a thin blue line to honor police.
However, locally, Ocean City officials were not overly concerned about the FAA warnings to its neighboring coastal communities in New Jersey and decided to move forward with the thin blue line initiative. This week, public works crews followed up and painted the thin blue line on 65th Street from Coastal Highway to the Public Safety Building, which, incidentally, is owned by the town of Ocean City.
