It’s believed a male fox and three of its kits were shot and killed on U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Station Ocean City in June, although no state or federal agencies have confirmed the exact number yet.
The shooter or shooters are alleged to be a member or members of the Maryland State Police (MSP) underwater recovery team (URT) and MSP has indicated they’ve launched an administrative investigation.
An article in OC-Today Dispatch states, “According to two sources, the investigation stems from an incident that occurred at the Coast Guard station during the OC Air Show in June. Reports allege one or more members of the Maryland State Police dive team, staying in tents at the station, became intoxicated and killed one or more wild foxes with an air rifle.”
Regardless of the alleged shooting and killing of foxes, Hunter Dortenzo, spokesperson for Natural Resources Polices (NRP), referred to it as an “unfortunate incident,” although that agency can’t investigate it.
To be clear, investigating crimes involving natural resources in the state of Maryland, including those that aren’t related to federally protected species, falls solely on NRP.
Foxes aren’t federally protected, they’re state managed and not by MSP.
Although the alleged killing of wildlife happened on a federal installation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) indicated they’re not the correct agency to investigate this incident.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforces federal laws, regulations, and treaties that protect wildlife,” stated Keith Shannon, a spokesperson for the agency. “Neither this species nor the alleged actions at the facility fall under the scope of our jurisdiction.”
Those two sentences sum up why the incident would fall upon NRP to investigate and yet, NRP is not allowed to investigate it.
Jurisdictional issues
“Maryland Natural Resources Police has no law enforcement jurisdiction within the boundaries of the U.S. Coast Guard Station as it is a military installation,” stated Dortenzo. “Had the incident occurred elsewhere in Ocean City, NRP would investigate, whether or not it was a state police officer who committed the alleged acts.”
Also claiming they don’t have jurisdiction is the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD).
This jurisdiction issue stems from the absence of concurrent jurisdiction agreements.
Concurrent jurisdiction means, “Two or more law enforcement agencies operating in the same geographic area and sharing authority and responsibility.”
Concurrent jurisdiction provides more coverage, like a force multiplier, should there be an emergency requiring a large response – it can also provide more expertise in federal, state and local laws depending on the need.
In Ocean City, concurrent jurisdiction agreements might be made between the USCG, NRP, MSP and OCPD. It is surprising, given how many law enforcement agencies operate in Ocean City this doesn’t already exist as it does in other places.
For instance, on the federal side, Anne Arundel County Police Department has concurrent jurisdiction agreements with Fort Meade, USCG Yard and the National Security Agency.
In contrast to concurrent jurisdiction, there is exclusive jurisdiction where the federal agency maintains complete law enforcement control over its own property and outside agencies have no law enforcement abilities.
“While we have exclusive jurisdiction of the station, local law enforcement is still able to take administrative action against the police officer in question,” stated Lt. Luke Pinneo, public affairs officer for the USCG East District. “No Coast Guard members were involved in this matter. The only nexus to the Coast Guard is that the incident occurred on Coast Guard property.”
That means no NRP involvement.
“The Coast Guard did not notify NRP,” explained Pinneo “STA Ocean City is federal property, therefore NRP does not have jurisdiction. The state police were made aware and have since taken administrative action. As of the date of this email, they have not finalized their investigation.”
Did anyone from the USCG do alcohol testing?
“No,” began Pinneo. “It would be highly irregular for the Coast Guard to conduct an alcohol test on a law enforcement officer from another agency. This is especially true on land, as opposed to sea where our boarding teams routinely exercise their law enforcement authorities.”
The incident happened on June 12, a couple days prior to the Ocean City air show.
“MSP notified us soon after it had occurred,” stated Pinneo.
What laws would be applicable in this alleged case?
What state laws would be broken by someone that is allegedly intoxicated while killing foxes in close proximity to occupied buildings?
“In Ocean City, an individual shooting foxes in the summer would be subject to hunting out of season (MR, 08.03.03.05E) violations, as the Fox season runs November 15 to February 28” began Dortenzo. “Safety zone violations (NR, 10-410(g)) could also be addressed if the shooting of wildlife occurred within 50 yards of any occupied building. Lastly, said individual would need to possess an active hunting license and furbearer permit, as lack thereof could lead to additional charges for failure to obtain a hunting license (NR, 10-301(b)) and failure to obtain a furbearer permit before hunting furbearers (MR, 08.03.06.06A(1)(a)).”
Though not verified by Dortenzo as applicable for this incident, there’s also NR410 (i) which indicates a person may not carry a firearm to hunt any wild bird, mammal, amphibian, or reptile while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or any narcotic drug.
Animal cruelty and human violence
If any law enforcement officer is found guilty of breaking any number of laws related to killing foxes at the USCG Station Ocean City in June, regardless of impaired or not, there’s a well-established connection between animal cruelty and violence against humans.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has a National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) which “began collecting detailed case information on animal cruelty incidents from participating law enforcement agencies.”
What constitutes animal cruelty?
According to the FBI, “Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking an action that mistreats or kills any animal without just cause, such as torturing, tormenting, mutilation, maiming, poisoning, or abandonment. Included are instances of duty to provide care, e.g., shelter, food, water, care if sick or injured; transporting or confining an animal in a manner likely to cause injury or death; causing an animal to fight with another; inflicting excessive or repeated unnecessary pain or suffering, e.g., uses objects to beat or torture an animal. This definition does not include proper maintenance of animals for show or sport; use of animals for food, lawful hunting, fishing, or trapping.”
Neighbors
Because USCG Station Ocean City is in a commercial and residential area, there are people outside of that station that are well-acquainted with the foxes.
Nathan Van Dyke lives across the street from the station and has been photographing the foxes since 2023 – he shared some of his photos for this article.
“These were taken at the park that shares the coast guard fence yes, they have a wooden walkway with space underneath and a small section of dunes at this park they use as shelter,” stated Van Dyke. “From my understanding generations of foxes have lived under the coast guard station and at this park for at least a decade.”
He indicated an eyewitness to the incident told him a male fox, along with its three kits, were shot and killed at the station in June – there is condominium complex overlooking the station.
“When I first heard what had happened I initially assumed that the city or coast guard had to decided to put them down due to overpopulation or a possible case of rabies, which would have been just as unfortunate, but with understandable reason,” stated Van Dyke. “If this was done for sport or out of cruelty without a decision from any agency or the town itself, we should look closer with the intention of preventing from happening in the future.”
The animals mean a lot to Van Dyke and he indicated others feel the same.
“Living downtown and photographing these foxes for the past few years has shown me that these beautiful animals have become beloved to the locals and vacationers alike, spotting them hunting the dunes in the early morning and stealing the occasional flip flop,” stated Van Dyke.
–
Donna L. Cole is an award-winning investigative and multimedia reporter. She’s also a bird of prey rescuer.
Color me disgusted.
Great article, telling the stoey fully. Thank you.
Some is responsible for the laws on that property and they should be cited or disciplined at the least for their actions!