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JULY 25, 2014
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY An Ocean City institution, Phillips Seafood celebrates 100 years in business in 2014 – Page 49
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More people, more Tasers? June zaps high OCPD logged 23 instances where officers drew device
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 25, 2014) Of all the ways to measure how many people are in town, the number of folks who get zapped in a given month probably isn’t the most telling. Nevertheless, City Council allowed its ongoing tensions over the resort’s tourism performance to bleed over this week into the Ocean City Police Department’s monthly report on Taser usage. The department logged 23 instances in June where officers drew their devices – known in the industry as Conducted Electrical Weapons, or CEWs. Out of those, 10 incidents resulted in the weapon actually being fired. The OCPD uses Tasers which project a set of steel barbs attached to wires, in order to deliver the shock at a distance from the suspect. This is relatively high incidence, given that there were only 16 Taser firings in all of 2013. Councilman Brent Ashley questioned OCPD Chief Ross Buzzuro why this would be the case, given that the city’s demoflush numbers – which track population by wastewater usage – were down to an average of 214,003 people per weekend in June, versus 225,785 last year. Less people but more altercations would suggest the city is bringing an unruly crowd in June. But Council Secretary Mary Knight posited that the city’s hotel occupancy for establishments included in the Smith Travel Report was up 5.6 percent – which would suggest that Taser incidents have merely increased as tourism has been more successful. Ashley and Knight were, predictably, on opposite sides of the coin two weeks ago when it came to See TASER Page 12
PHIL JACOBS/OCEAN CITY TODAY
REGGAE SOUND ON BEACH Delroy Headly and Andrea Williams bring reggae to the beach as The Rising Sun Reggae Band entertains on the Caroline Street stage Wednesday evening in downtown Ocean City.
Clothing changes out in restrooms Council makes decision as bathroom lines grow for people who must go
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (July 25, 2014) If it seems like your wait for the Boardwalk bathrooms has been getting more and more stressful lately, it’s not in your head. Nor is your bladder getting smaller. Rather, City Hall has even started
to take notice of the increasingly long lines for public restrooms on the Boards, which seems to be a byproduct of the lack of changing space for day-trippers. As of Tuesday, the city’s Public Works Department has installed “no changing” signs at the Caroline Street restrooms, after Council Secretary Mary Knight noted at Monday’s meeting that the new building does not have the same signage as the rest of Boardwalk facilities.
“The lines at the ladies’ room over the weekend were extremely long,” Knight said. “I think the signs would help.” Additionally, Councilman Brent Ashley asked if the city had ever considered putting out Port-a-Johns at times of peak beach usage. The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission recently discussed where to place portable toilets for the Fourth of July, when restroom access was observed See RESTROOMS Page 3