we get to see the same on our beloved boardwalk almost nightly in wildwood. what a shame that wildwood turned what it is today. i have to tell you when my husband and i go on the wildwood boardwalk in the summer, we are off it by 8pm. pleanty of things happen here without even making the newspapers. that would destroy tourism. just ask any local, we will tell you. my house is in north wildwood and i bought my son a house in wildwood crest. sometimes i wish i didn't have to drive thru wildwood city to get to the crest. all boardwalks have their problems, sometimes all it is is violent crimes in wildwood. us locals try very very hard at preserving the island, but it's getting harder and harder with each passing season.

I have to say that more cameras on the boardwalk and probably anywhere people walk at all hours might be a good thing. my son is a wildwood crest police officer and i get the information 1st hand. unfortunately not enough police presence, and when something does happen especially on the boardwalk, the summer officers usually have to call for the police. it's almost like they are afraid up there. as a local and a patron on and off the boardwalk, yes, i look behind me usually every minute that i am on the streets in wildwood or the boardwalk.  
in this changing world, there is now something called a 'flash mob'  they are the scum of the earth, and every single person on here should be equally as upset as i am over this. this is what is ruining wildwood as we know it. how would you like to be on the boardwalk with your family and all of a sudden a croud of 50 to 100 ghetto slugs push there way pass you and start their terror on the boardwalk including the merchants that are trying to conduct business and push you out of their way. literally. if you ever speak to the moreys, ask them what a flash mob is. the moreys make tons of telephone calls to the police for assistance.
how about before the season kicked in this year when 2 european girls were followed and touched and one slapped because she wouldn't allow the inappropriate conduct, or how about the boy who was playing on the beach and was kicked in the face for no reason by 5 guys? or how about the drug bust's in fox park at night or the heroin and cocaine problems at maxwell field (and not 1 time either) it is being sold out of there. how about our children who play there or walk there?  
or what about when a group of kids thought it would be funny to douse a older man sleeping on his porch with gasoline and throw a match at him?  all that man was doing was sleeping on his own porch.or that boy that was walking home from his baseball game and a 'local homeless' man on a stolen bike decided that he was going to grab this boys bat and beat him over the head until a point of unconsciousness and later pass away?
i could go on and on... but will not
 
like i've said wildwood has changed as we old folks know it.
you might say 'it's a different world' or 'times have changed'  
so do you accept that excuse? us locals do not. there are many communities within a community in north, west and the crest that take care of each other. did you notice that i left our beloved wildwood out? you bet!
so before you point the idle finger at atlantic city's boardwalk or seaside or any other boardwalk that we are so blessed to have, just remember i could go on & on with things that happen in the wildwoods (and i mean violent crime) but i am on here as a local voice who like i've said in my first post 'saw it all'
 
i want to thank everyone on here for being so interested in wildwood, but when all the tourists and vacationeers go home, i'm still here and will until the day i die.
 
i have given the wildwoods my heart, but a heart can break.
i will not sugar coat things anymore, we need help here. we are losing the battle
thank you for listening

Quote from fuzzyscorpio on Jul 15^th, 2011, 5:03pm:

I saw that too Kathi. Then I moved my mouse over the photo and a little pop-up box describes it as an undated photo showing the pier missing a section after a fierce storm. Never heard about that before, but we were never really big fans of AC anyway.

Welcome Bopper!
 
First off I in no means meant to say Wildwood has no problems, but I still think this poll was a big joke as AC is in no way fit to be the best boardwalk in the country.
 
Anyway, its nice to talk to a local from Wildwood. I'm like your neighbor to the north in Ocean County. I visit the Seaside Heights boardwalk several times a week in season, so I can understand your problems, probably on a larger scale as Seaside is, at least in my opinion, in worse shape then Wildwood.
 
It's VERY interesting you bring up flash mobs of thugs. Same thing in Seaside, except they take over the ENTIRE town. The bars, the boardwalk, and the beach. It was so bad after the 4th of July that the police had to use mace and close the boardwalk after 1am. Memorial Day was just as out of control, and someone got stabbed two blocks from where I was walking. This is a relatively new phenomenon, I have never seen these people on the boardwalk before, and especially never where families and locals were outnumbered to the point we didn't even seem to belong there. I heard that thugs and gangs are starting to spread out and take over towns on certain occasions, and I believe this is what has been happening in Seaside. These people were not locals, and even the so called "guidos" were hiding.  
 
I would hate to see this happen to Wildwood, I understand the flash mobs, but I hope it never gets to the point like it is on holidays in Seaside now. Granted, during any other night whether it be weekend or weekday it is fine, thee problems have only been coming on holidays. Seaside has a very heavy police presence on the boardwalk which reacts very quickly and keeps most problems under control, hence them being able to clear the boardwalk very quickly on the 4th. Perhaps Wildwood should have more officers on the boards.
 
A quick question for you, where have you been seeing the most problems on the boards? Where all the action is or on the quieter ends to the north and south?
 
As we have all stated here before, the run down areas around Pacific Ave need to be fixed, anything that attracts trouble into the town will and those people quickly spread to the boardwalk.

Thank you Bopper for your expressed appreciation of all of us and our love for your fair city. I am always interested in the opinion of the locals regarding the people who descend on the Wildwoods each year. And God Bless your son and the job he does.  
 
The things you suggest are very troubling. I had never heard of these flash mobs before. I am thinking of the level of mental process that causes a group of people to descend on an area primarily enjoyed by families and wreak their deeds. That fact throws about the biggest red flag I can imagine and would cause me to label them subculture.  There can be no existence between the two, culture and sub culture. The only solution is to stop it cold, quickly and violently. True zero tolerance, a lost concept. That requires what your son has called a deficiency of, a large law enforcement presence. It no doubt boils down to money but somehow, if this is truly a problem, the commitment of resources must be made or the Wildwoods is lost.  
 
Are you saying these mobs have ever made a visit to the Wildwoods?

Well i was there in late june and i saw none of these flash mobs that the moreys are making tons of calls about. The only mobs i saw were of families having a great time including mine.
 
I'll be back a few weeks from now with a full report on any sightings of people being tortured or the total chaos and free for all among the people that is apparently happening as we speak. I'll also be sure to bring my body armor with me and will apply for a gun license for self defense purposes. It so dangerous on the boardwalk - did you ever hear about the tram car thats there? you can get run over by it! Be careful everyone I wish you luck on your trips this summer.
 
 

Haha ill have an emergency hotline #

Quote from wildwood_since_85 on Jul 15^th, 2011, 8:39pm:

 
 
me too. Never had a lick of problems in 50 years going there...

I think our entire culture in public places has changed... You have to be vigilant 24 hours a day.  
I travel nationally/internationally and you really don't blink on the road.  
   (That being said) I have always considered Wildwood one of the happiest safest places on the planet and have never had any problems in my many years roaming the Boardwalk and streets of the WW's. I must give gredit to the Police force(s) on the island for their outstanding performance.
   Every town has a dark underbelly that goes mostly unnoticed by the average visitor. The police are the thin blue line that keeps keeps the bad guys away from the good guys (us). They have a tough job and it sounds like bopper worries about the bad guys hurting  her town.  
    Over the years I have seen WW go through many different stages .. both good and bad. Recent years have been really positive and much improved.We mostly celebrate that on this message board.
    Regarding boppers feelings regarding WW ...I completely understand her concerns. Her perspective is going to be different that ours as a resident,iwith a police officer in her family.
    I think bopper is full of interesting stories about her career on the Boardwalk..I look forward to some amazing tales from her as a Tram Car jockey!

Of course when you are dealing with a place that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors over the summer there are going to be some incidents that happen here and there. Thats going to happen anywhere. It cant be avoided. Theres going to be a very very tiny % of people that look to cause trouble. Thats life.
 
If things were as bad as what was mentioned who would ever go back in a million years? The place would be a ghost town. Give me a break this is ridiculas.

Well Kathi, since you made reference to something I said I will explain my meaning. My reference to violent reaction, probably a poor choice of words, was simply meant to establish how police operate in countering an unruly force with superior, and swift opposing force. Were it not for that the police gaining the upperhand they would be overcome, an extraordinarily dangerous position. I sometimes get a little too dramatic I suppose and it goes to how we, each other on here sometimes don't understand things in the exact context of others words but I do see how my words were overblown. A useful reminder to make communication on here as accurate as possible so misunderstandings are avoided. We all make mistakes and if new to a discussion forum in my opinion, it can sometimes be a learning transition from perhaps how we think and talk to our particular circle of friends and acquaintances. The same technique is in my opinion not directly transferable to a forum where there are many people. It takes time to learn and adjust to talking in such a venue. It is for that reason that I encouraged Bopper not to leave.

Quote from fuzzyscorpio on Jul 17^th, 2011, 2:33pm:

 
You see I suffer from a problem, being related to my grandfather, the man who thinks a daily argument is good for ones health. (He does have a heart of gold though)
 
Thank you Kathi, (and thank you Al). The Internet is a funny place when it comes to communication and it is certainly harder to always catch jokes and sarcasm, but I would NEVER wish to offend or hurt anyone. I can disagree with someone completely and even get into little scuffs with them but in the end I value their opinion and love them as a person. The same is true here, every one of you are great and I am honored and blessed to be in your company and share my love for Wildwood with you. Not everyone has a graceful entrance to an online forum, especially if they are not used to them. If Bopper comes back happy, that's great, if she is gone for good, I wish her the best. I only feel bad because not only is it nice to have people who live there year round here (we need someone to keep us up to date on winter happenings ) but I wish we could help promote the importance of Doo-Wop and preservation to the local people more. The one thing that bothers me about this forum is despite our huge (probably biggest in the world) collective pool of knowledge and ideas for Wildwood, we still seem pretty disconnected from the DWPL and thus getting our message from here to where it needs to go is difficult. Talking to some locals on here would help that. Anyway, I think this thread took a whole different turn from what I expected, but I think we all learned some important things in it both related to the topic and not related to the topic.

We can apply some blame to both sides on this one. For a newbie, it would probably be best not to come on so strong and so suddenly with opinions that are in conflict with those held by the majority of this board. Ease yourself in, get to know the other members, and then feel free to share your thoughts and opinions, however controversial, so long as they contribute to the topics at hand and are expressed in good faith.
 
If your tone is aggressively negative right out of the gate, most members are going to assume you are here as a basher/troll and more of a destructive force than constructive. Hence the reaction of several of our regulars in this case.
 
That said, veteran members of the forum shouldn't be so quick to get on the case of new members who don't initially appear to fit the usual mold. Give newbies a chance to assimilate to forum culture before taking matters into your own hands. Alert the moderators to any posts you feel are of questionable intent.
 
We do generally prefer to keep things positive and upbeat here, but obviously the real world does not always follow suit, Wildwood being no exception, and hearing the opinions of Wildwood locals on the state of their community as they see it can be a very valuable part of the conversation here.
 
I have appealed to Bopper to consider giving the forum one more try, but it will ultimately be her decision whether to return.
 
Thanks,
Mike D