Ocean City Police Partner With ABLE Project

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The Ocean City Police Department announced that they have been accepted to join the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project as a partner agency.

ABLE is backed by civil rights and law enforcement leaders, the city said in a news release. It was developed by Georgetown Law’s Innovative Policing Program to provide practical strategies and tactics for officers to prevent misconduct, reduce mistakes and promote health and wellness.

Ocean City is the first certified agency in the Cape-Atlantic region, and only one of 17 of New Jersey's 550 law enforcement agencies to be certified.

“The people of Ocean City trust our officers to keep them safe, and we will always be committed to
developing the best practices,” Police Chief Jay Prettyman said. “Our acceptance as an ABLE Project partner is an honor, and I’m excited to support the continued growth of our men and women as professionals and public servants.”

Ocean City's application through Georgetown Law was backed by letters of support from Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6650 in Ocean City, American Legion Post 524 in Ocean City and Ocean City Mayor Jay A. Gillian.

ABLE believes it is the responsibility of every officer to prevent mistakes and misconduct and promote their fellow officers' health and well-being, even while faced with high-stress and high-stakes decisions.

OCPD has committed to the 10 ABLE Standards and have certified instructors available to the department from within the agency as well as from surrounding agencies. ABLE’s 10 standards are: reduce unnecessary harm to civilians, reduce unnecessary harm to officers, reduce risk of officers losing their jobs, reducing risk of lawsuits against the department, the city and individual officers, improved police/community relations, improve officer health and wellness, improve officer job satisfaction, improve citizen satisfaction with their law enforcement agency.

The department provides at least annually meaningful training to full-time and seasonal officers emphasizing the legal duty to intervene and specific tools, skills and techniques on how to intervene.

“I’ve always been proud that our department is part of our community and not just a law enforcement agency,” Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian said. “This program will help ensure that our officers have the tools to avoid harmful situations.”