Ocean City Police Department

What Ocean City Police Department does

The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) is a municipal law enforcement agency operating under the Town of Ocean City, Maryland, founded in 1898 and headquartered at 6501 Coastal Highway. With approximately 115 employees organized across five patrol shifts and divisions covering Patrol, Arrest and Detention, and Support Services, OCPD provides year-round and seasonal public safety coverage to a beach resort community whose population fluctuates dramatically between summer and winter. The technical infrastructure is conventional for a municipal police agency: CJIS for criminal justice information, radio communications, emergency vehicle operations, and standard police equipment, with new recruits trained at the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy on the Wor-Wic Community College campus in Salisbury, Maryland.

OCPD's externally visible operations are structured around a recruitment and hiring ecosystem rather than commercial products. The department operates three primary hiring pathways: full-time Police Officer ($64,000 starting salary with advancement to a $68,800-$100,054 PFC scale), Lateral Police Officer ($68,800-$100,054 with up to $15K signing bonus for in-state and $5K for out-of-state laterals), and Seasonal Public Safety Officer ($20.14-$21.15/hour). Supporting programs include a 980+ hour training academy, a paid internship program tied to college credit, and a departmental housing program for seasonal employees at approximately $350/paycheck. Applications are processed through a dedicated recruitment website (joinocpd.com) and the PoliceApp.com online portal, with in-person testing events, background investigations, and structured interviews completing the funnel.

As a municipal government state entity, OCPD is funded through Town of Ocean City tax revenue and appropriations rather than commercial revenue streams. The go-to-market is recruitment-driven: identify, test, certify, and retain sworn officers and civilian support staff to serve residents and visitors. Customer concentration is structurally total, as OCPD is the sole law enforcement provider within its jurisdictional boundary. The principal strategic objective evidenced in the data is staffing adequacy for seasonal surge demand, pursued through differentiated incentives, a multi-tiered pipeline, and structured employer-of-choice positioning.

Name

Ocean City Police Department

Legal name

Ocean City Police Department

Website

https://joinocpd.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Ocean City Police Department is a municipal law enforcement agency serving Ocean City, Maryland, providing patrol, emergency response, traffic enforcement, and detention services to residents and seasonal beach visitors through approximately 115 sworn and civilian personnel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Law Enforcement

NAICS

Police Protection (922120), Police Protection (92212)

akta.pro primary industry

Police Services (Patrol, Response & Community Policing) (BPAIAGAA)

Keywords

• Municipal law enforcement
• Police recruitment
• Public safety services
• Seasonal patrol operations
• Criminal justice training

Headquarters

HQ city

Ocean City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: As a municipal police department, the Ocean City Police Department is funded through local government budgets derived from tax revenue and town appropriations. No commercial revenue streams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Ocean City Police Department is a municipal law enforcement agency that delivers year-round and seasonal public safety services—including patrol, traffic enforcement, parking enforcement, arrest and detention, and emergency response—to the residents, businesses, and visitors of Ocean City, Maryland. The department actively recruits and hires full-time Police Officers, Lateral Police Officers, and Seasonal Public Safety Officers through a structured hiring process (written exam, physical agility test, structured interview, background investigation, psychological evaluation) and trains recruits at the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy.

Product overview

Ocean City Police Department's recruitment platform offers a unified hiring ecosystem for law enforcement careers, comprising three distinct employment pathways: full-time Police Officer positions (with $64,000 starting salary and 980-hour academy training), Lateral Police Officer transfers (with $68,800-$100,054 salary range and up to $15K signing bonus), and Seasonal Public Safety Officer roles (civilian support staff at $20.74-$21.15/hour). These are complemented by a Training Academy at Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy, paid Internship Program for college credit, and a Departmental Housing Program for seasonal employees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Police Officer Recruitment Full-time sworn police officer positions with a $64,000 starting salary, step increments for acceptable performance, specialty pay, overtime for court appearances and special details, comprehensive benefits, and a 980+ hour training academy. Candidates must be at least 21 years old, U.S. citizens, with a valid driver's license, and pass written exam, physical agility test, structured interview, background investigation, and psychological evaluation.
• Lateral Police Officer Program Program for Maryland-certified or out-of-state certified police officers seeking lateral transfer to the Ocean City Police Department. Salaries range from $68,800 to $100,054 on the PFC PayScale. Up to $15,000 signing bonus for in-state laterals and up to $5,000 for out-of-state laterals. Laterals with at least 2 years of experience start as PFC with pay based on service credit (up to 9 years credit available). Out-of-state candidates must complete a 200-hour comparative compliance academy.
• Seasonal Public Safety Officer Seasonal civilian support staff positions deployed in the Arrest and Detention, Parking Enforcement, or Patrol Operations support divisions. Under-18 employees receive $20.14/hour; over-18 employees receive $20.74–$21.15/hour. Includes a $500 graduation bonus after academy completion and 80 hours, and a $250 longevity bonus. Functions as a pipeline for future full-time police officer hiring.
• Paid Internship Program Paid seasonal internship positions that satisfy college internship requirements, with written agreements in place with several schools. The Training & Recruiting Section provides assistance throughout the placement process. Targeted at college students pursuing criminal justice, forensic police science, and related degrees.
• Departmental Housing Program Housing program where the department leases houses and subleases them at cost to seasonal employees at approximately $350/paycheck for the first six pays, with automatic payroll deduction. Designed to provide affordable seasonal housing in the Ocean City resort market.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Eastern Shore Criminal Justice AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ocean City Police Department partners with the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy located on the campus of Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, Maryland. Police Officer recruits attend a 980+ hour training program at this academy, which typically runs January to June or July to December. The academy provides comprehensive law enforcement training including policy, ethics, firearms, defensive tactics, use of force, emergency vehicle operations, constitutional/criminal/traffic law, and active shooter response.
• Wor-Wic Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy is located on the campus of Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury, Maryland. Police Officer recruits receive training at this facility and earn certification from the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Academies (M.P.C.T.C.) upon successful completion.
• Maryland Police and Correctional Training Academies (M.P.C.T.C.)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe M.P.C.T.C. provides certification for police officers. Lateral entry candidates who are out-of-state certified must attend a minimum 200-hour comparative compliance academy in Sykesville, Maryland. Upon successful completion of academy and field training, candidates receive M.P.C.T.C. certification. M.P.C.T.C. evaluates out-of-state training curricula to determine lateral eligibility.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Cape May Police Department: Municipal police department for Cape May, New Jersey — a Mid-Atlantic beach resort town. Directly comparable in mission, seasonal staffing model, small force size, and patrol-oriented service to a tourism-driven community.
• Bethany Beach Police Department: Small municipal police department serving Bethany Beach, Delaware, another nearby Delaware beach resort community. Comparable in scale, seasonal demand pattern, and resort-town service mix.
• Rehoboth Beach Police Department: Municipal police department for Rehoboth Beach, Delaware — a nearby Mid-Atlantic beach resort town. Highly comparable operating model: seasonal population surges, similar small force size, patrol and beach community policing, and reliance on seasonal support staff.
• Ocean City Police Department (New Jersey): Municipal police department for the similarly named beach resort town of Ocean City, New Jersey. Directly comparable along mission (patrol, seasonal surge staffing), customer base (resort visitors), and force-size profile, despite serving a different jurisdiction.
• Annapolis Police Department: Municipal police department for Annapolis, Maryland — comparable Maryland municipal agency with sworn officer recruitment, lateral hiring, academy training via M.P.C.T.C., and similar civil-service compensation structure. Different geography but adjacent in operating model.

Regional players

• Wicomico County Sheriff's Office: Neighboring Eastern Shore Maryland county sheriff's office that draws from the same regional labor pool and shares the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice Academy training pipeline. Comparable in recruitment competition and compensation benchmarks.
• Worcester County Sheriff's Office: County-level law enforcement agency covering the same county (Worcester County, MD) where Ocean City sits. Comparable in Maryland certification regime, training partnerships, and recruitment infrastructure, though it serves a broader non-municipal jurisdiction.

Broad incumbents

• Delaware State Police: State-level law enforcement agency covering Delaware, including beach resort communities adjacent to Ocean City. Competes with OCPD for the same regional applicant pool and offers a state-government career path that some lateral candidates may choose instead.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ocean-city-police-department

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ocean City Police Department