Ocean City Md Beach are Closed

[47thelement]

DO NOT Come this way until the beaches are open. My buddy just got a $200.00 ticket and got his detector confiscated. Just for detecting on the beach. I am willing to bet they want a chance to scrape the beach once before the let us hunt.

 

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[Jason in Enid]

DO NOT Come this way until the beaches are open. My buddy just got a $200.00 ticket and got his detector confiscated. Just for detecting on the beach. I am willing to bet they want a chance to scrape the beach once before the let us hunt.

What did they charge him with?

 

[racermon]

oc md closed

sure your just collecting all the booty . looks like the streets are full of sand.
im in harrisburg pa let me know when u start getting to the beach. im thinkin of heading down tonight .
none of the web cams are working on the hotels and beach points.

 

[47thelement]

Trespassing and Failure to abide to a City Mandate. Was threatened with criminal mischief if he was caught on beach again. Officer told him they were not messing around.

 

[Jason in Enid]

What a crappy society we have where everybody has to be protected. What happened to personal responsibility? Crap like that pisses me off.

 

[47thelement]

Sorry racermon I don't play like that. It's a big beach

 

[OBN]

Got the word
All roads in Ocean City are now open. You can come, or go, as you please. The beaches remain closed and the Inlet lot remains closed. There are lots of people enjoying the boardwalk and the sun is already beginning to shine!!!

Should be interesting when they do....

 

[Native Floridian]

It never ceases to amaze me how people don't understand that the rules apply to them. Closed means closed to everybody, not everybody except you. Your friend thought he was the exception?

As for the cops/city scraping the beach, why?

 

[Plug]

i understand the ticket for the violation of city mandate and trespassing, but getting his metal detector confiscated? i see no legal grounds for that. none whatsoever. and if he gets a lawyer, i doubt the trespassing charge will stick as well. it is usually very easy to get out of trespassing violations unless you were verbally told to leave first by the cops and then refused. you can't let the cops push you around like that. your buddy should have dialed 911 and reported theft of property in retaliation. what is he doing about his metal detector? just letting the cops keep their new toy?

your buddy's metal detector got stolen, plain and simple.

 

[JoelB]

Scraping beach of broken glass, splintered boards, etc.....maybe--just a thought. I looked at the notices the town put out and could not find any mentioning of a beach closure. May have missed something along the way---taking away a metal detector--seems a little bit rediculous if true. Keep us posted. Probably just call city hall or the police tomorrow and get the scoop.

 

[OBN]

https://www.facebook.com/TownOfOceanCity

 

[JoelB]

OK JOE SHOULD WE GO!

 

[Can Slaw]

i understand the ticket for the violation of city mandate and trespassing, but getting his metal detector confiscated? i see no legal grounds for that. none whatsoever. and if he gets a lawyer, i doubt the trespassing charge will stick as well. it is usually very easy to get out of trespassing violations unless you were verbally told to leave first by the cops and then refused. you can't let the cops push you around like that. your buddy should have dialed 911 and reported theft of property in retaliation. what is he doing about his metal detector? just letting the cops keep their new toy?

your buddy's metal detector got stolen, plain and simple.

Someone does not understand the looting laws after a major storm...A house was destroyed with the contents scattered about. The contents of the house still belong to the homeowner under the looting laws. A metal detector is a "looting device" on a closed beach, therefore illegal and it WILL be confiscated. Go ahead and hire an attorney, that will cost more than 4 metal detectors and you are still in violation of looting laws.

I live in hurricane country and vary aware of the after the storm laws.

 

[NYwaterhunter]

Unless there are signs posting closed , How would one know?
It should have been a written warning if he didn't know the beach is closed.
If he knew it is closed, well S___ out of luck. He still ownes his detector, it's not an illegal item (gun, knife)
Should be able to get it back.
good luck.

 

[OBN]

OK JOE SHOULD WE GO!

Yep, Inbound with the other 199, see you at the Grand. Just have to wait for the cleanup, which is why I'm sure no one is allow on the beach

 

[Native Floridian]

WAS OC under a mandatory evacuation? Was a State of Emergency declared? If so, the police had every right to confiscate the detector. The OC police aren't the bad guys here. Not that they didn't already have enough to do, now there's a scofflaw detecting on the closed beach. Does anyone here really believe that this guy didn't know the beach was closed?

Canslaw has this 100% right.

While we all want big storms to take the sand away there is a right time and a wrong time to hit the beach after one of these storms. Clearly, detecting on a beach, where feet away people are dealing with total devestation is nothing short of repugnant. As is detecting before the all-clear has been sounded. There will be plenty of time to detect once order is returned.

 

[lookindown]

Unless there are signs posting closed , How would one know?
It should have been a written warning if he didn't know the beach is closed.
If he knew it is closed, well S___ out of luck. He still ownes his detector, it's not an illegal item (gun, knife)
Should be able to get it back.
good luck.

Here in Florida if your caught trespassing while hunting, they can take your vehicle and its not an illegal item. You have to obey the laws...saying "I was only detecting" is not an excuse when the beaches are closed.

 

[Can Slaw]

Unless there are signs posting closed , How would one know?
It should have been a written warning if he didn't know the beach is closed.
If he knew it is closed, well S___ out of luck. He still ownes his detector, it's not an illegal item (gun, knife)
Should be able to get it back.
good luck.

To benefit others that may have this idea:

I live in an the area where six Hurricanes have hit in six years. It is on the news everywhere that the beaches are closed after a major storm. The emergency workers do not have time to post signs for people that are not smart enough to stay off of closed beaches. it is up to you to find out if a beach is open after a major storm.

In my area they do not issue warning for "looting" on a closed beach....they take you to jail and bail I hear is high.

If you believe a metal detector is not an illegal item on a closed beach (again looting laws) try taking a metal detector onto a National Seashore, National park or National Battlefield and see what the judge has to say about getting what was your detector back.

In a storm damaged area make sure YOU check if the beach is open and IF detecting is allowed. You do NOT want to find something that just came from a damaged home, again looting laws, they are serious.

 

[47thelement]

Just to be perfectly clear. I am 110% supportive of the OCPD on this one.

The beach was closed. Case closed. There was only one way into town and you had to pass a 10 foot tall Dept Transportation electronic sign directing people to tune your radio to am 1670 for hurricane info. That is one of the places to find out the beach was closed.

Myself, I requested permission from a police officer at 6:30am this morning. I found a bunch of greenies, oddly only 2 fresh drops, a 10k w/mini diamond or cz, a 14k fireman charm, a St. Christopher surfing charm and my 1st PLATINUM! It's just a thin band but I'll take it.

 

[sbunting]

Unless there are signs posting closed , How would one know?
It should have been a written warning if he didn't know the beach is closed.
If he knew it is closed, well S___ out of luck. He still ownes his detector, it's not an illegal item (gun, knife)
Should be able to get it back.
good luck.

A penknife is not illegal, per se, but use it in the commission of an offense and it can become an instrumentality of the crime, therefore evidence and subject to seizure. There may also be language in the law enabling seizure / forfeiture. In the end, the detector may be returned, or not. In the end, the facts will come forth and the matter adjudicated.

Meanwhile we must respect that some areas are closed and for good reason. Once the all clear is given, there we be opportunities abound....