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Ocean City already preparing for July's 'College Beach Weekend'

Reed Shelton
The Daily Times
The Ocean City Boardwalk remains busy during the summer season.

It may only be June, but Ocean City officials are giving advanced warning of an “unsanctioned event” in July that has a history.

"College Beach Weekend" is trending on Twitter under the hashtag #CBW2k17 and coming to the town from July 21-23, according to social media and the event's website.

Last year's weekend was linked to 12 arrests from July 23-24. In the first incident, crowds numbering up to 200 people on the Boardwalk threw bottles, yelled profanities and eventually assaulted police officers, according to reports.

Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said in a June 13 release that business owners should staff in preparation for a busy weekend and reminded residents to report any ordinance violations.

He said police will also be present in greater numbers for the weekend event.

“With the expectation that this event will bring an influx of young adults, residents and visitors can anticipate increased enforcement and high visibility,” he said.

BACKGROUND: 2016 College Beach Weekend pockmarked with arrests

Ocean City Police spokeswoman Lindsay Richard said police are preparing for the weekend as they would any other event, sanctioned or otherwise.

“That includes planning, preparing on all levels and coordinating with other agencies to be ready,” she said. “Typically, we’re doing exactly what we’d do for any other event here in town.”

A Eventbrite page is selling tickets to various “VIP” parties to be held in Ocean City during the event, the locations of which are not being publicly shared. Instead, ticket holders alone will be notified of the various locations as the weekend approaches.

Richard said while she can’t discuss specifics, police are making an effort to discover these locations ahead of time.

“We’re certainly doing everything we can as far as intel goes to learn all we can about this event,” she said. “We’re definitely looking into it.”

She also said as it’s an unsanctioned event occurring in unknown areas of the town, the police would be powerless to shut down the event in advance were they to decide to.

“There’s really nothing we can do to keep them out of town, but like always we welcome all visitors to Ocean City as long as they respect our laws and ordinances,” she said. “The Ocean City Police Department will do everything in their power to assure it’s a peaceful weekend.”

Ocean City is not the only town that has dealt with "College Beach Weekend" issues in the past.

Virginia Beach has been home to its own College Beach Weekend since 2013, and incidents of violence typically follow in its wake.

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This year’s April 29-30 event there left four young people shot, one stabbed, numerous fights reported and a traffic gridlock around the Oceanfront area, according to a 13NewsNow report.

A change.org petition was created within an hour of the April 30 shooting suggesting that the economic boost brought by the event wasn’t worth the risk, and currently has nearly 11,000 signatures.