OCEAN CITY — While there were still significant hassles at times, the pop-up car rally weekend last week was decidedly tamer then recent years and the statistics bear it out.
The Town of Ocean City was bracing for another major unsanctioned pop-up car rally last weekend and officials said going in they were more prepared then ever. As it turns out, far fewer of the often-reckless participants came to the resort last weekend. Whether the ramped-up enforcement efforts over the last couple of years, including a strong police presence, a beefed-up towing ordinance, and the special event zone with enhanced fines and penalties, has caused a drop-off in participants in the often-rowdy weekend is uncertain, but last weekend was clearly far quieter than recent years.
Statistically, a breakdown prepared by Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) Crime Analyst Brandon Reim this week shows the number of calls for service, traffic stops, citations issued, arrests, tows and other major categories all declined sharply from 2020. The drop-offs were even more pronounced then the statistics from 2019, which showed a peak in most categories over the last five years.
Anecdotally, it was decidedly quieter last weekend in and around the resort during the unsanctioned pop-up rally than in previous years. Although there were plenty of arrests made, there weren’t any of the significant serious crimes seen in years past, such as assaults on police officers, for example.
So, the question remains is Ocean City slowly winning a war of attrition with the unsanctioned pop-up rally with the many measures put in place in recent years, or was the 2021 event just an aberration and the pop-up rally will return in force in late September next year, or perhaps on a different weekend? Despite the apparent successes, resort officials have vowed to stay the course and not let their guard down going forward.
Has OC realized yet that no visitors equals no revenue? Granted, they may have “won” but to what extent?
Keep patting yourselves on the back but banning is different from managing.
Good for you OC. Nice to see you take a stand, and make the town safe again.
Not let your guard down next year or the years to come?
How about not letting your guard down EVERY WEEK? THATS THE JOB YOU ARE IN!
The mindset of elected officials remains out of touch. You got lucky last weekend. Sunfest was fine, saturday traffic downtown was just like any Saturday in July. This week the cruisers enter. Those that come to spend their money – dont get tough-@ssed with these folks. There will be a few outliers of youngins that will need to be addressed, but getting barney badass with gray beards? We dont need those folks not returning cuz barney felt the need to flex.
Learn from past mistakes and IMPROVE. NEVER GLOAT, its embarrassing.
I have a better idea how about letting the public really know what is happening in OC. I sure am glad that it was a quiet weekend but I have a different version to share. That weekend on Saturday afternoon around 4, I was sitting in a parking lot on 94th St. All of a sudden all hell broke loose, there had to have been at least 10 police cars, 5 or 6 motorcylce cops, 2 ambulances, a couple of fire trucks, and I am guessing the Canine unit that came barreling down 94th St and I guess they all ended up either on the beach or at one of the hotels. I went to the log of both the Police and the Fire Dept and there was absolutely nothing listed nor was there anything on either news station but after all it was a Saturday afternoon and our news stations do not report on the news on the weekends. Anybody out there able to tell me what the hell happened because I was never able to find out.