Officials in the New Jersey seaside town of Wildwood closed the boardwalk and declared a state of emergency early Monday morning in response to “numerous civil disorder incidents” involving young people and minors.
Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, Public Safety Commissioners Steve Mikulski and Krista McConnell, and the Wildwood Police Department (WPD), issued Police said in a press release that they had received an “uncontrollable number” of calls about “youths and minors” who were allegedly “unruly” and “undisciplined.”
“Wildwood will not tolerate unruly, undisciplined and parentless children, nor will we sit idly by while state laws tie our police’s hands,” Troiano said in a statement. “We wholeheartedly support the Wildwood City Police Department as they protect our community from nuisance crowds on the boardwalk and within our city limits.”
Wildwood was forced to close its trails early today, with a “Local Disaster Emergency being declared. Due to an uncontrollable number of calls for service involving so many youth and minors, we were unable to respond to certain calls for service within a certain time period.” pic.twitter.com/oigWSeIYdA
— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) May 27, 2024
In a joint press release, authorities said WPD responded to “an overwhelming number of calls within the City of Wildwood” on Saturday night.
As a result, Wildwood officials sent out a request for assistance to several agencies in Cape May County.
“Due to the volume of calls, certain calls within the city were not responded to for periods of time,” authorities added in the press release.
On Sunday, Police Chief Joseph Murphy notified Wildwood’s city commissioners and emergency management coordinator of an “emergency situation” resulting from a “civil disturbance” on the boardwalk.
Based on this recommendation, “a local disaster emergency was declared” early Monday morning.
By enacting a state of emergency, including the closure of the Boardwalk, in the early morning hours of May 27, 2024, the City of Wildwood was able to effectively address numerous civil disturbance incidents and ensure the safety and welfare of residents and visitors.
A 15-year-old boy was reportedly stabbed by an unknown suspect on the boardwalk. The boy was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
