OCEAN CITY – Police statistics for the month of August revealed fewer calls for service and a decrease in city ordinance violations and domestic disputes, among other things.
On Monday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) Chief Ross Buzzuro presented members of the Ocean City Police Commission with his report on police activity for the month of August.
He noted that officer calls for service had decreased from 4,289 in 2020 and 3,563 in 2021 to 3,002 (a 16% decline from 2021 and 53% from 2020), while citizen calls for service had decreased from 3,597 in 2020 and 2,638 in 2021 to 2,536 (4% decrease from 2021 and 77% from 2020).
“You can see quite a bit of difference from where we were two years ago,” he said.
In the top 25 calls for service, Buzzuro noted that city ordinance violations had decreased from 945 in 2020 to 396 in 2022 (27% dip), while disorderly calls had declined from 537 in 2020 to 272 in 2022 (49% decrease).
“In two years, there’s about a 50% decrease,” he said.
When comparing 2020 to 2022, Buzzuro also pointed out suspicious person/activity calls had decreased from 199 to 109, while alcohol violations had decreased from 132 to 65 and domestic disputes had decreased from 158 to 68.
“All in all, within the top 25, most have seen decreases,” he said. “There isn’t really a line item that jumps out at us.”
Under August enforcement, custodial arrests decreased 23% from 298 in 2020 to 228 in 2022, while drug citations decreased 42% from 52 to 30 and weapons arrests decreased from 27 to 21.
“Three were firearms, 13 were knives and five were other,” Buzzuro reported.
Commission members this week praised the department’s efforts, and Mayor Rick Meehan encouraged OCPD personnel to continue enforcing the town’s ordinances.
“When we get into the offseason, I think some people feel that we relax the rules …,” he said. “I think we really need to set a precedent again and make sure they realize … those ordinances are still in effect. The way to do that is citations.”
Buzzuro said that while the department had fewer officers entering the fall months, his department would continue to be proactive.
“I say that not as an excuse, but as an explanation as to us continuing our enforcement efforts,” he said. “We’ll certainly do our very best.”
Buzzuro on Monday also updated the police commission on the department’s body-worn camera program, which took effect ahead of the summer season. As of June, all OCPD officers have been trained and equipped with body-worn cameras.
“Feedback has been tremendously good …,” he said.
Last year, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation mandating law enforcements agencies to use body-worn cameras by 2025. Last July, however, the OCPD announced plans to launch a program by the start of the 2022 summer season.
In an update this week, Buzzuro said the body-worn cameras have proved to be an asset to the department.
“They’ve been working really well,” he said. “The number of interactions that have been captured, we are glad they have been captured. It really tells the tale of what truly occurred and not just a rendition or partial account.”
The police department’s aggressive campaign to launch a body-worn camera program came last year after a series of highly publicized Boardwalk incidents in which the agency’s use of force was called into question. In two cases, attempts to issue citations for vaping on the Boardwalk ended with physical confrontations between OCPD officers and the suspects, and the online circulation of cellphone footage showing snippets of the incidents.
To that end, the department formed a committee, met with body-worn camera companies, held trial runs and selected the private provider Axon as its vendor. By June, the program was fully operational in the resort.
“It’s a deterrent …,” Meehan said this week. “It diminishes the possibility of some type of altercation.”
