By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Ocean City Intermediate School students Carter Chorin and Jude Baltozer had one of those “uh-oh” moments when they saw police Officer Kayla Ricci approaching them while they were riding their bikes on the sidewalk.
“I thought we did something wrong,” said Jude, 11, a fifth grader.
“I thought I was in trouble,” admitted 9-year-old Carter, who is in fourth grade.
However, Ricci was smiling when she came up to both boys after school let out Friday afternoon and handed each one a gift card with the words “Bicycle Safety Campaign” written on it.
“You guys are doing the right thing. You’re wearing your helmet,” Ricci said with effusive praise.
The Ocean City Police Department, the police officers’ union PBA Local 61, four local pizzerias and the school district are partnering in a new program that rewards children for safely riding their bikes in town, including wearing their helmets.
The safety campaign was launched Friday when Ricci and other police officers greeted the intermediate school students after school as they were getting ready to head home on their bikes.
The gift cards that Ricci gave to Carter Chorin and Jude Baltozer entitle them to two free slices of pizza and a complimentary soft drink at one of the four participating pizzerias – Express Pizza, Manco & Manco, Mario’s and Randazzo’s.
Carter and Jude both expressed relief when they realized that police were there to commend them, not to tell them they had been doing something wrong while riding their bikes.
“I wear my helmet all the time,” Carter said.
Both boys said they were happy to be treated to free pizza. Police will hand out the gift cards for free pizza to other children throughout town to reward them for their bicycle safety for as long as the campaign lasts.
“I’m excited about this program. I think the kids are really going to be into it. It’s going to leave a positive impression on them,” said Ricci, who rides an e-bike and is a member of the department’s Community Policing Unit.
Sgt. Chris Vivarelli, who heads the Community Policing Unit, came up with the idea for the bicycle safety program. He hopes it will improve bicycle safety overall and serve as positive reinforcement for children who wear their helmets and follow the traffic laws while riding their bikes.
“We want them to get from Point A to Point B in a safe manner,” Vivarelli said.
Police Chief Bill Campbell also stressed the positive aspects of the program. He said it will help to build an even stronger relationship between the police department, local schoolchildren and the community.
“It’s a positive outreach to the community,” said Campbell, who took over as the new police chief in October.
Campbell said he envisions the bicycle safety program to be just one of a number of community outreach initiatives that the police department will be launching in the future.
PBA Local 61 is helping to support the bicycle safety program by contributing $1,000 to buy 250 gift cards for the free pizza and complimentary soft drink, Vivarelli said.
Vivarelli noted that all four pizzerias that are part of the program are longtime supporters of the police department and jumped at the opportunity to help promote bike safety.
He pointed out that the program will have the added benefit of encouraging local kids to patronize the pizzerias.
Although the overall goal is to improve bike safety among all children, the program will initially focus on the intermediate school students in grades fourth through eighth and generally between the ages of 10 to 14.
“We think this is a good way to bridge the gap between students and ourselves,” Ricci said.
One key reason for focusing on those children is that the intermediate school is more remotely located than Ocean City’s primary school or high school. Students at the intermediate school generally have a longer bike ride to get to school, Vivarelli explained.
Ocean City had two accidents in 2023 involving children who were injured riding their bikes, police said. One of those children was City Councilman Tony Polcini’s son, JD, who is a sophomore at Ocean City High School.
JD Polcini was riding his e-bike to school in November, when he wiped out on wet asphalt while going around a sharp turn near the Post Office at Ninth Street and Ocean Avenue.
He suffered a punctured liver and a concussion. Polcini said his son was not wearing a helmet when he crashed. He actually left home wearing a helmet, but took it off later on when he got closer to school, Polcini said.
Problems ranging from speeding e-bikes to riders monopolizing the Boardwalk and not obeying traffic laws throughout the city have kept the popular motorized bikes at the forefront of discussion.
The community’s concerns over the past two years prompted city officials and the police department to take a look at stricter enforcement of laws that apply to e-bikes.
Ricci said police have been issuing verbal or written warnings to children for not wearing their helmets or breaking other traffic laws while riding their bikes, whether they are e-bikes or regular bikes.
Sometimes, police will give them a traffic ticket for more serious offenses such as running a stop sign or riding on the wrong side of the road, Ricci said.
Hoping not to appear heavy-handed, the police department also decided to take the positive approach of rewarding children for following the bike safety laws. Hence, the idea of handing out cards for free pizza.
“Far too often we forget about the majority of kids who are doing the right thing,” Vivarelli said.
