In a packed meeting with more than 150 local Bivalve area residents, Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman, County Executive Rick Pollitt, Sheriff Mike Lewis and other County Representatives openly discussed crime and parking on Cove Road.
Several citizens from the area stood up and spoke of their disgust of issues Sheriff Mike Lewis said, "Oh, we're well aware of the problem". In fact, Sheriff Lewis, (and others) could name pretty much every person causing the crime problems. The problem, they're juveniles and "the juvenile system is broken," said Sheriff Lewis.
Another major topic, (besides crime) is the parking issues on Cove Road, near the beach. No sooner does the County put up No Parking signs, someone comes along and steals them. One of the biggest things I learned last night was, even though they can place No Parking signs up, it only creates a $25.00 fine. However, just because there's a No Parking sign there, it does not allow the Sheriff's Department to tow a vehicle. That actually takes more legislation. The County Council would have to adopt a new resolution and send it off to the State. If the state approves it, then the County would have to vote it into law and the towing can begin.
However, there's another problem. How much money can a towing company make traveling all the way from Salisbury to that area and pick up a vehicle. On top of that, will the vehicle still be there by the time they are dispatched all the way out there.
One of the solutions the County Council will consider is perhaps passing new legislation to close ALL parking on both sides of the road. Again, without the state backing a tow away zone, the only fine you'll get is $25.00 in the mean time.
Towards the end of the meeting Councilwoman Prettyman asked for a raise of hands from those citizens who'd be willing to participate in a community crime watch. Well, it's pretty clear from the image above that these citizens have had enough.
The meeting in my opinion was well worth the drive to visit. County Executive Rick Pollitt asked those in attendance if they had ever heard of the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress. To my amazement, 90%+ had no clue what he was talking about. I mention this because I'd like all our readers to realize, while we may not have been aware of just how bad crime has risen in their neck of the woods, citizens there had no idea the resources that are provided and more communication needs to be encouraged.
The Neighborhood Congress certainly will not resolve their immediate problems but having a large group expressing issues from all areas of the County and sharing/learning other means of resolutions is a step in the right direction. This includes how to run a successful community crime watch as well.
In closing, Sheriff Lewis will be holding an internal meeting this morning to discuss how they can better tackle the issues and concerns of the west side residents. One thing is for sure. When Sheriff Lewis says he's going to do something, you can expect something to be done right away.
32 comments:
Yea, like "rock the criminals world!" HA!
my kids hang out at the Cove.. is it a dangerous place for good kids to hang out?
My screen just melted, because Stevie is HOT !
So, basically, there's a huge amount of ppl that love Cove Beach but b/c there's no parking, no one is allowed to visit anymore. Bum deal. Is there any way they can come up a parking arrangement? It's such a nice area. It's nice for to not have to go to Ocean City. I can understand that the locals there are sad that there once "secret beach" isn't so much a secret anymore but that eventually happens in any town where the population is growing...it's a desirable area (minus the recent crime...crime there is way better than crime in salisbury though). I would walk quite a ways to be able to hang out on cove beach. Make parking available somewhere!
anonymous 10:54, no one said there wasn't parking there. There is parking. However, there's an overflow of parking that ends up on private property. I did hear there's room to expand the current parking lot. However, there's no real funding right now to get it done.
The three juveniles are now adults , 18 and over. The crimes they committed as juveniles were very costly , thousands of dollars.
Mike issued one of them a ticket last night . He knows , who they are , most of the residents in the area know them. They are still acting like kids and doing most of the vandalism. I don't know if it's legal to post their names , if so , I will do it.
The meeting was a start and should bring about a stop to this crime. I wouldn't be surprised to see residents hurt some of these criminals. I know they have talked about it.
Beings this is an election year, all sorts of candidates will show up and promise the citizens the world. If this was an off year, election wise, half of them wouldn't have shown up for the meeting. Nothing will get done as long as there is nothing for these "kids" to fear. The system is truly broke and we have the left-leaning DJS or DJJ or whatever they call them nowdays to thank for coddling these precious little ganstas and blaming us for their wrong upbringing. Of course you can't spank kids in school or even touch them, parents are not allowed to apply corporal punishment without the threat of criminal assault or abuse charges, and the press thinks its all funny. Its sad, that is what it is. OK, candidates, get back to campaigning.
Roaring Point park is just down the road 2 more miles with 5 times the beach and parking. The last time I was there it was filled with mexicans and they left dirty diapers and trash behind.
If you want your country back , get a grip and fight for it. Of course ,if your a liberal or a democrate all of this is ok .
anonymous 11:04, CLEARLY you don't know Councilwoman Stevie Prettyman and Sheriff Mike Lewis. If they say something will be done, something will be done!
That community reached out to Mike & Stevie, they responded and now you want to say it's only because this is an election year. I disagree with you 100%.
Respect the fact that they did put this event together and have the wisdom and patience to see what will be done about it. If there's no change, believe me, I'll be all over it.
Let me say this as well. Your crime is NOTHING compared to Salisbury crime. No disrespect but you gained the attention of not only the County Exec. Council person and Sheriff, the Press was also there to cover the event.
Be patient and watch these professionals go to work but also remember what Sheriff Lewis said about the juvenile system being broken. YOU need to contact your Delegates and Senators and make sure they hear each and every one of you loud and clear.
Stevie, Mike & Rick cannot fix that broken system. It will take Senators and delegates to get that job done.
I'm tired of seeing the illegals down their leaving their beer cans and trash all over the place. just cause they lived like pigs in thier home country they think it's alright to destroy our pristine areas!
The Cove was a fun place before Wicomico County Parks and Recreation got involved with it and posted on their website. I miss the good old days.
11:11 hit the nail on the head.
Its the same way at cherry(stinky) beach in Sharptown.
Some of the things I picked up on last night was: The residents of the this area need to be proactive. The judicial system is screwed up. It has to be a felony to make a citizen arrest. If people are trespassing just suck it up. I think we would be better served with a small militia , legal of course. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight.
11:37
No one makes you come to Sharptown
Joe, I'm anon 10:54. Obviously I've been to Cove Beach if I would say I would walk quite a ways just to be able to hang out on it and therefore know there's "parking" there...for the size of that beach the parking:beachgoer ratio is obviously falling short hence the parking issue in the first place. There's an obvious need to have more parking.
she is hot ...
Heres a novel idea....if charging the juveniles leads nowhere,why cant the parents be charged?Seriously there should be a legal way to punish the parents/guardians of these hellions for not doing their job.
On another note,the people of Westside will not tolerate this.I believe they will form a neighborhood watch to keep their area safe and I applaud them for it.
11:53 dont have to I have a pool in the back yard. My point was the beach is filled with what its filled with.
If the federal government won't stop the illegals , then what the hell are the local people suppose to do with the broken legal system? Do you have a clue Richardson of Nanticoke?
We have a mix of bad things in this area. We have young people vandalizing the area , we have illegals , we have people with no regard for simple law , throwing trash and bottles , we have thieves, maybe we do need a militia . I think so! This ring a bell , West, Gray and Tindle.
How do you know they are illegal?
12:47 - The better point about Stevie is that she is smart and gets things done...
The only one there because it is an election year is Rick Pollitt otherwise he would have never rode the ferry across from Allen. Stevie and Mike do their jobs for the people.
We need to request Obama station National Guard troops along the roads leading into both the Cove & Roaring Point to help with the crime and littering. We may also want to follow Arizona's lead and pass state level legislation to protect the citizens of these areas from crime! Better yet go open season on these illegals and form a Westside citizens security force right away! :-)
Chip Carper
It was good to see all the people have so many views about the cove. Being a resident on the road, it would be difficult for an emergency vehicle to make it down there if it needed to. So many people and so many cars and not enough space to put them. Solution: No Parking on both sides of the road. BTW, parks and recreation finally put up the other sign to replace the one that was stolen. Hopefully that will stay up longer than a day!!
3:18 said: How do you know they are illegal?
RESPONSE: They had it stamped on their forehead "Illegal Wetback"
The problem at Cove Road is a total lack of parking. Before the county put this location on their website and advertised it there wasn't a lot of problem with parking. It was a secret little locals beach. Now they advertise it and are SHOCKED at the parking problems they created!?!? Unbelievable!
5:23 I was at the Cove in the last week or so and you are flat out wrong. In fact, a Maryland State Police car and a Sheriff's car were parked in the lot while I was there. There absolutely was room for both. While there police cars (aka emergency vehicles) came through at least hourly. There was enough room for ambulances had they been needed.
Hey Ron, when, not if, cars are parked along the side of the road it would be difficult for an emergency vehicle to get down the road when another car is coming out. Now around 5:23 the time you said you were there, there isn't hardly any parking on the side of the road because most of the people have left the beach. You can, however, get a car going down and one coming out of cove rd when there are no cars parked on the side. I'm not angry because "our little secret" as you put it is out. I'm just put out by the constant traffic, trash on my lawn, and the trespassing. I'm not saying "close it". I am saying that the parks dept has only 1.6 acres of land total. Now you have 100 to 250 people in a day there with limited space etc....you tell me...the overflow is going somewhere. That lady had a great idea the other night. Make the one beach better at cedar hill park. There you have enough parking space, roads etc....
1:23/cove rd
What I am doing is assigning blame. Before the person at the County decided to advertise this beach they should have consulted you and everyone that lives on that road to get your feedback. Did they? Doesn't sound like it to me. Your neighborhood has changed, maybe permanently because of their decision to advertise this formerly small, local beach and turn it into a tourist attraction.
With respect to emergency vehicles your point isn't as strong as you think. In the case you present, an ambulance coming down Cove Rd and a person leaving at the same time, the person leaving would just need to back up. It would not be a big deal. People get out of the way of emergency vehicles all the time. It certainly would not cause a long delay or anything close to it. Heck, rush hour traffic causes a longer delay than your example would.
Also, I did not state that I was there at 5:23- the note was addressed to the person who commented at 5:23.
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