August 28, 2005 re: Police Corruption in Ocean City, Maryland - A Costly and Growing Problem The answer is: Restaurants, Hotels, Board Walk Peddlers and Police Corruption. And the question: What's BIG BUSINESS in Ocean City, Maryland? Whether you are a vacationer seeking refuge for a weekend at the beach or a visting international student working in one of Ocean City's hundreds of businesses - BEWARE - Not all of Ocean City's sharks are in the water. Over the past three years an increasing number of vacationers, business owners, and international students interviewed in a city wide survey point to the growing trend of Police Corruption in Ocean City, a problem as wide spread as it is costly to the thousands of visitors looking for a weekend refuge at the resort community on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Many motorists targeted for random police stops within city limits report being harassed by ill trained and poorly supervised seasonal rent-a-cops, and in some cases year round veterans of the force. Drivers report being provoked into a confrontation with verbally aggressive in-your-face officers anxious to make a `score' with a lucrative summons during road side stops often exceeding an hour. Others report motor vehicle charges against them to have been fabrictated, particularly during off peak hours, in one case by Officer E. Campbell who had previously stopped the same motorist several years previously, and against whom a complaint for the same illegal activity had previously reported to his supervisor. The supervisor claimed to have conducted an investigation (which didn't include interviewing Campbell's targeted victim), and concluded to have found nothing wrong with his behavior, illegal though it obviously was. According to his supervisor, `Campbell produces.' When asked what Campbell's supervisor meant by `produces,' he had no further comment, and terminated the call. Several dozen International students surveyed in recent weeks, many of whom come from non-English speaking countries, report being heavily fined, man handled, assaulted, and ocassionally arrested for what started as a minor pedestrian infraction or what officers represented in the summons they issued as `loud music.' A number of female international students report being targeted for harassment, officers anxious to get more from them than simply their names, addresses and dates of birth. During the month of August alone, three international students selected at random for an interview report being struck by a motor vehicle in Ocean City, one of which resulted in a trip to an emergency room, x-rays, stitches, facial scars, tetanis shots, and torn ligaments. Because the incident occured so recently, the student had yet to receive the resultant medical bills. In each case, officers from the Ocean City Police arrived on the scene. After demanding personal identification from the students in question, and without asking them a single question about the incident, officers subsequently accused the international student of being in the wrong. One student reported hearing the officer advise the driver who struck him, `don't worry this happens all the time,' `we know how to handle it,' `if there's no police report, your insurance company will never know about this,' `these students don't know how to contact your insurance company and we aren't going to tell them anything.' Anyone with knowledge regarding corruption attributable to Ocean City Police is encouraged to contact the Office of the Attorney General, State of Maryland: Main telephone number (410) 576-6300 or 1 (888) 743-0023 toll-free in Maryland TDD: (410) 576-6372 Mailing address Office of the Attorney General 200 St. Paul Place Baltimore, MD 21202