Four-year stint as operations director came after issues with patrol spilled into public
OCEAN CITY — J. Allan Karas, whose mission was to “right the ship” after the Ocean City Beach Patrol’s internal problems spilled into public view and led to a public reckoning, has left the position of director of operations after four years.
Karas was hired in spring 2021 just days after retiring from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration after some 25 years in law enforcement. His mission was to deal with some very public issues, not the least of which was an Instagram page titled OCBP_predators alleging years of a variety of sexual misconduct among some lifeguards and a boys-will-be-boys attitude among leadership that let it fester.
His job included stabilizing the leadership and returning the OCBP to its longstanding good public reputation.
“It was definitely a department in distress for a variety of reasons,” Karas told the Sentinel in an interview March 4.
OCBP_predators
One former lifeguard received four years of probation after pleading guilty to second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Another pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal contact for exposing himself to a female guard in a lifeguard stand while on duty. In the latter case, the city settled a lawsuit for $135,000 with an OCBP guard because of the allegations about a “good old boys” network that allowed older guards to prey upon younger female guards. Two other guards also sued the city.
Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland said the other case and sentence stemmed from the social media post from April 2021 that made allegations against the OCBP.
The Instagram page entitled “OCBP_predators” featured what it called “the untold stories of pedophiles, predators, and inappropriate behavior on the beaches of America’s Greatest Family Resort.”
One of the initial posts on the site read, “OCBP has more pedophiles in power than not. These men prey on young, impressionable girls on the beach patrol and beach patrons alike. Many underage girls have been harassed by their direct supervisor and no action has been taken to stop this. Repost if you believe these men should be held responsible.”
After that initial post were a slew of other posts alleging inappropriate and illegal behavior on the OCBP and on other patrols in southern New Jersey. Some long-serving former lifeguards told the Sentinel they found the posts credible based on what they had experienced.
Some of the posts talked about booze-fueled parties with older male guards preying upon underage female guards.
At the time, Mayor Jay Gillian said as soon as Ocean City officials were made aware of the site, which began with about 200 followers and swelled into the thousands, the Prosecutor’s Office began investigation.
In the wake of that, Gillian hired Karas, an outsider, to come in to oversee the OCBP.
Ethical North Star
Karas completely overhauled and realigned the management structure of the beach patrol and purged some questionable guards.
Karas said he did a wide variety of things to reform the OCBP, but the main point was providing something overarching.
“I think I gave us an ethical north star,” he said. “I really do believe from a leadership and a management perspective, if you have an ethical north star, you take care of your people and you have a real relentless focus on excellence and mission. I think everything else sort of figures itself out.”
In overhauling the management, he put in place a new structure that included chief of operations Erich Becker, three deputy chiefs — Holly Lesser, Tony Mehalic and Dan Casey — new captains, lieutenants and senior guards.
Karas acknowledged there were some bad apples but he made a point of saying there were plenty of good people within the beach patrol from which to choose.
“They just needed to be put in the right places and they needed to understand what their jobs were,” he said. “I think that was a big part of what I did. I gave very clear job responsibilities, made people understand and explained decision making, even if they didn’t agree with it.”
He said that made for a major culture change in the organization.
Karas had worked as a lifeguard for the Atlantic City Beach Patrol, so he knew what it was like to sit the stand, but his management experience came from his years in the public safety world in management and leadership positions.
He said there was “a wholesale shift” in what the different managers had in their responsibilities. That included giving them “clear responsibilities” through an organization table that he believes did not exist prior to his tenure. The table explained responsibilities and duties down to including things such as who the person would call for payroll or for training.
“I think that just made it better for everybody so people didn’t do what they weren’t supposed to do and people did what they were supposed to do,” he said.
By breaking everything down in the organization structure, it showed the OCBP members their specific role and duties they had to fulfill and it improved communication within the patrol.
“The guards do a great job. The Ocean City Beach Patrol has a great history in place” with protecting the people on the beach and in the surf before he came aboard, he said, “but it just needed to be tuned up under a different set of eyes.”
Asked if he felt confident that things will continue to run smoothly with the leadership team he put in place, Karas said he believes it can as long as they continue with the things they developed as a team during his tenure.
“I have had the three best deputy chiefs running around anywhere,” he said. “As long as they remain consistent to some of the things that we’ve changed, I think they’ll do very well. … I want to see it succeed.
“At some point, you know, other people have to take over,” he said.
As to whether it was his decision that he accomplished his mission or was that of the city administration, Karas said it was a combination of the two.
“This was a discussion that’s been going on for several months and I think it was a mutual decision that it was just the time to go,” he said.
Gillian said the director of operations position was always meant to be temporary. He agreed the decision to end it was made mutually with Karas.
The mayor said Karas did “a great job” and has implemented the policies and procedures that were needed.
Karas noted that a mission is never really completed in any organization because they have to continue to work at being the best.
“I do believe it was sort of like we’re not mission accomplished, but mission a lot better,” he said.
Gillian expects the leadership team in place on the beach patrol, working with the administration, will be able to carry the OCBP forward.
Karas, who has a home overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Atlantic City, plans to take this coming summer off.
“I was only retired three days from the DEA when I took over the beach patrol, so I’m going to take the time to spend time with my family and also heal up from the myriad of injuries over the 25-plus years of law enforcement,” he said.
“I haven’t had any time off in as far back as I can remember,” he said. “By no means am I officially retired, but at least for the short term, I don’t have any plans.”
“It was an honor to be part of a beach patrol that has such a tradition and is, I think, the second-oldest beach patrol in the country. I tried to give it the respect it deserved,” Karas said. “I also was a member of the oldest beach patrol over in Atlantic City, so it’s kind of cool to be a lifeguard and boss of the two oldest professional beach patrols.”
His best memories from his stint with the OCBP will be of the people he worked with and the good relationships he developed with members of the beach patrol, in the police and fire departments and in City Hall.
“It was a great four years and if I look at (the OCBP) from day one to now, it’s not recognizable in many ways,” he said.
“I’m really thankful for the opportunity to work for Ocean City.”
– STORY AND PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff