OCEAN CITY, Md. -- On Thursday, mayors from cities in Delaware and Maryland participated in the annual Mayors of Delmarva Forum to address challenges and successes from each of their respective jurisdictions. However, an uptick in juvenile crime and police shortage challenges seemed to be the most shared issues amongst each area.
Mayors on the panel discussed inflation and infrastructure, but the most in-depth discussion centered around young people committing crimes at a higher rate, issues policing the crime, and police staff shortages.
Salisbury Mayor Jack Heath spoke about recent shootings in Salisbury involving teens, as well as Maryland's controversial juvenile justice laws.
Mayor Stan Mills says in Rehoboth Beach, this is the first year he has observed "irritants" such as groups of teens loitering on the boardwalk.
"Within a split second, a fight could break out, or something could escalate and erupt and cause big problems," says Mills. "I think it is a big concern for all the elected officials in Rehoboth, but also primarily police."
But he adds that with a shortage of law enforcement, it is also a challenge to police the teens.
"Usually, we go for a compliment of 21 seasonal officers and 18 full timers," says Mills. "Of course they're not all working at the same time, but imagine just a fraction of those officers having to control big crowds."
Mills offered solutions such as increasing the number of security cameras around town, increasing wages for seasonal law enforcement, and adding bonuses as an incentive for candidates.
In contrast, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan says crime in the resort town is down this year and the police department is fully staffed. However, he says a big decline in seasonal officers this year could be detrimental in the long run.
"It just seems there are less young adults, those that are in criminal justice programs in college or have just graduated from college that are interested in going into law enforcement," says Meehan. "At some point, that is going have an effect on our year-round program as well."
In Crisfield, Mayor Darlene Taylor says the town is also suffering from an uptick in juvenile crime and police staffing shortages.
"The crime that we're seeing is our kids just getting in trouble, stealing pizza, maybe breaking into abandoned building and that kind of thing," says Taylor.
She says it will take more than policing to solve the issue.
"We've got to look at what are the resources available and connect people to resources, and connect people to opportunity, and connect people to recreation," says Taylor. "We have to be realistic and understand that we do have a problem."