June bugs hit early, hard in Dewey Beach in 2010

It wasn’t an average June bug season for Dewey Beach. While the early-summer swarm of recent high school graduates typically buzzes through the town for about three weeks, this year’s crowd hit early and hard.

“We got hit with seniors like we’ve never experienced,” said Dewey Beach Police Lt. Billy Hocker. He said snow delays from February’s blizzards might have aligned graduation dates among Delaware’s high schools, but whatever the reason may be, Dewey’s June bug population surged hard starting Friday, June 4. Dewey police Sgt. Cliff Dempsey said that week was Dewey’s busiest in nearly a decade.

“Obviously, the complaint level went up,” he said.

The next week, Hocker said, the population plummeted 75 percent. Dempsey said the numbers of complaints dropped accordingly.

Members of the Dewey Beach marketing committee gathered Wednesday, June 23, to evaluate Dewin’ It Right, a new initiative to keep highs chool grads busy with town-sponsored events such as bonfires and eating contests.

Several of the events were well attended – the kick-off wing-eating contest drew nearly 100 June bugs –but Dempsey said it was unclear whether the program had any effect on crime. Still, Dempsey said, even if Dewin’ It Right didn’t precipitate a noticeable drop in complaints, it was well worth it.

“If it gives kids two hours of not drinking, that’s two hours to our advantage,” he said.

Hocker said it was good for the town’s public image.

“It’s cool,” he said. “Not too many towns besides Ocean City do something like this.” Should Dewin’ It Right continue another year, Hocker said, attendance will likely increase.

Hocker said June bug concentrations seem to have shifted away from the bars and toward rental homes and hotel rooms. Dewey police cracked down on house parties during the first few nights, he said, spurring a string of evictions by rental agencies Coldwell Banker and Lingo.

Noticing a stark falloff in the number of house parties, Hocker said he questioned a group of June bugs walking along Route 1; after the crackdown, the grads said, nobody wanted to risk hosting a party.

“We made the arrests in the first couple of days,” he said. “That set the tone for the whole week. And we threw a lot of kids out. The Realtors were very proactive about this.”

The one-week surge didn’t bring with it the serious assaults and robberies Dewey police saw last year, Hocker said. In 2009, a man was beaten and robbed on Dagsworthy Avenue.

Police say one of the suspects was wearing a sweatshirt from Concord High School in Wilmington.

“This year we haven’t had that happen,” Hocker said. “I don’t know why.” He said Concord grads are typically the most troublesome group, but this year, they’ve been silent.

Still, residents have noticed problems with litter and public urination. Resident Barbra Dougherty said June bugs are no longer waiting until sundown to start drinking.

“You’re seeing more people who are dead drunk in the middle of the day,” she said. Committee member Jim Dedes agreed – he had to call in a noise complaint on a party at 11 a.m. He said he could see a tenant urinating in the back yard.

Commissioner and marketing Co-chairwoman Diane Hanson said she received many resident complaints about litter. She said she saw a tree in front of her condo complex adorned with 12 beer cans.

“That’s in your face,” she said. “That’s screw-you littering.”

Harry Wilson, owner of Surfrider Condominiums, has a simple way of dealing with behavioral issues – he doesn’t allow alcohol in his units.

On the subject of public urination, he suggested something he saw in Harvey Cedars, N.J.: a mobile bathroom, which he described as a Winnebago full of toilets.

Hanson lauded the police, crediting them with a relatively tranquil Memorial Day weekend and June bug season.

Hocker returned the praise, thanking the marketing committee for taking an active interest in quality-of-life issues.

“This group here,” he said, “has the most proactive approach I’ve ever seen.”

Hocker said the relative stability of Memorial Day weekend was due largely to the hiring of off-duty officers from neighboring municipalities, which was made possible by a $6,000 donation from three local restaurants and bars.

Dedes said it was good of the businesses to step up, but he questioned the ethical propriety of accepting the donation. He said reinforcing police ranks should be a town expense, budgeted for in advance. Hocker agreed.

“Do I think it’s right? I don’t,” he said. “It sounds bad. It would be nice for the town to pick it up next year.”

With June bug week behind him, Hocker said he hopes the rest of the season unfolds without major incident.

“We’ve hired enough seasonal officers so that we can do our job,” he said. “And it looks like it’s working.”