CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach is not alone in its efforts to address recent violence and get more police officers on the street. The Horry County Violence Subcommittee has been talking for more than a year about how to handle violent crimes, but to date, has not taken action.
The group met again Wednesday to discuss a plan to reduce crime throughout the county. The subcommittee has been meeting since May 2016, and has now decided to take a different approach.
Leaders from different agencies came together and discussed ideas for about three hours on how they can further work together and pool their resources.
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock met with Horry County Chief Deputy Tom Fox, who also serves as the chair of the violence subcommittee, and committee members. The idea that formed from that conversation was a 5-prong approach to cutting down on violent crimes.
The five prongs are:
- Prevention and Intervention
- Enforcement
- Prosecution
- Community and Social Needs
- Resources
These five areas local law enforcement officials agree are key to cutting down on crime.
“This is one of the first steps in establishing a solution,” states Chief Deputy Fox.
Fox led Wednesday’s discussions on ways every law agency in Horry and Georgetown Counties can work together.
“If you don’t involve all the municipalities and all the county agencies together, all you’re doing is moving criminals from one section to the next,” explains Fox.
Fox says there needs to be more centralized communication between agencies. To achieve this goal, Fox introduced the idea of what he calls an inter-agency fusion center.
“A hub where all the criminal intelligence goes into one localized area that’s easily accessible to all the law enforcement agencies in the two counties,” suggests Fox.
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock says while the hub would be costly, it would benefit multiple agencies.
“It would be great to have an asset like that,” admits Chief Prock. “An expensive asset, but it would be great to have that asset.”
During the meeting, leaders agreed they first want to work out more details before they put a dollar amount on any project.
Fox noted a need for more Horry County officers and said he wants to see a similar plan to what Chief Prock unveiled to Myrtle Beach two weeks ago – adding 10 new officers or police department employees each year for seven years.
“That’s a discussion that we’ll have in the enforcement – prosecution groups, is to talk about what the needs are in terms of boots on the ground,” says Fox.
Prock says it’s a costly project, but is confident a reasonable budget can be set.
“You’re not just talking about manpower but the actual technology that goes along with that, that’s very expensive,” states Prock. “This committee’s put a lot of time and effort into it and I think we’ll be able to work together to do that.”
The plan is still very much in its beginning stages, but the subcommittee hopes to have a more finalized product to present to the public safety committee at their meeting in December.
Fox says they’re looking at private grants and options from the state, counties and cities as ways to pay for the project. He says he hopes the project can be included in Horry County’s 2018 budget season talks.
