[Scan-DC] Ocean City officers say car show ran them ragged

[Alan Henney]

Interesting comments toward the bottom about the aficionados monitoring police radios via the Internet.


Daily Times (Salisbury, Maryland)

October 21, 2010 Thursday

Ocean City officers say car show ran them ragged

BYLINE: By, Brian Shane

SECTION: WCT

LENGTH: 659 words

OCEAN CITY -- Ocean City Police would like to bid 'auf wiedersehen' to Volkswagen aficionados who flock to the resort for an annual car show held at nearby Ocean Downs.

Police Chief Bernadette DiPino said the hundreds of VW and Audi drivers attending decided to centralize at the 40th Street convention center parking lot, where they caused problems, drinking and fighting.

"This year is one of the bigger years we've ever seen of this event," she said at a Police Commission meeting. "It just gets bigger and bigger because of the Internet. It concerns us, and we just don't have enough people to be able to handle an event of that size while we have Sunfest going on at the same exact time." 

DiPino said because seasonal officers are nearly gone, "we're stretched as thin as we can get" in terms of manpower -- and this even after police shifted officers away from Sunfest to be on the streets for this weekend. They're also using uniformed officers handle duties normally reserved for civilians because of the town's extended hiring freeze.

When asked if her department had reached out to other local law enforcement agencies for assistance, DiPino said Worcester County Sheriff's deputies already have their hands full dealing with the main event at Ocean Downs.

According to its website, the event's official name is H2O International, a "laid-back" two-day event for German cars with water-cooled engines. In its 13th year, the event was held at Ocean Downs and included cookouts, live music and car judging.

Lt. Scott Kirkpatrick said when it comes to the crowds at the convention center parking lot, there are "two schools of thought."

"Either we kick them out of this lot, or we embrace it because they're not on the roadway," he said at the meeting. "And if we embrace this event, maybe we could charge them for (parking) ... I think they would pay."

"Then it looks like we're embracing this event," replied Councilman Lloyd Martin, chair of the Police Commission. "And really, I don't want to embrace this event for that weekend."

DiPino said her officers would clear the convention center lot for next year's H20 International. Martin added that the event is getting so large that the organizers may need a larger venue like Salisbury's Winterplace Park.

Police say they're also concerned that event participants are listening to the police scanner, and keeping tabs on officer activity, thanks to a website that broadcasts police scanners from across the U.S. DiPino said patrolmen had to change their radio frequency from analog to digital so nobody could eavesdrop.

On a message board at VWVortex.com, drivers talked about how they found the scanner feed, commented on incidents they were hearing and how they realized the cops had caught on. Another message board thread is about drivers swapping stories of getting pulled over by police.

At the meeting, Kirkpatrick showed photos and videos culled from the message boards, all been posted online by event participants. Images and videos showed a packed sidewalk outside the convention center, drivers taking a high-speed U-turn on wet pavement at 120th Street and officers dealing with the crowds.

Another photo showed a gaggle of onlookers on the sidewalk at the 45th Street Village shopping center, with bodies so sardined that one man took up a perch atop the bus stop to avoid the throngs.

Bystanders at 45th Street were egging on drivers to race when the signal went green, and waving signs saying "red light challenge!" As a result, police had the traffic signal deactivated at 45th Street, making it blink yellow.

Sunsations owner Avi Sibony owns the 45th Street Village. Police said they contacted him through his business manager, asking permission to enter the property and enforce trespassing regulations, but he refused.

Police and town officials agreed to plan ahead now for next year's event, and revisit the issue at some point in the coming months.

bshane at dmg.gannett.com

410-213-9442, ext. 14