The next time you head down to Myrtle Beach City Hall or the City Services building, there will be extra security measures in place.
The City of Myrtle Beach has hired two new security officers. Starting on Friday, one officer will be stationed at City Hall, while the other will be stationed at City Services. They will watch those buildings while they are open between 8 a.m and 5 p.m
“Those are the main places where people come, whether it’s to see construction services, to pay their utility bill, to stop by planning, to visit city staff,” said city spokesperson Mark Kruea.
At the moment, City Hall, which houses the mayor’s and city manager’s offices among other staff, is accessible to the public. According to Kruea, the city wants to make sure they have an extra pair of eyes monitoring who’s coming in and out of the buildings.
“An extra layer of protection. Having somebody who is there watching what’s going on aware of what’s going on,” said Kruea.
In addition to hiring security personnel, the city is also restricting where people can enter and exit each building, so that there is only one entry point. Kruea said the city has discussed stepping up security for the last few years.
“We’ve had some minor incidents in both buildings where members of the public became aggressive or were under duress or stress from other issues, maybe it was a drug or alcohol issue,” he said.
The city will pay each security officer a salary of $40,000. Kruea said both hires have backgrounds in security and law enforcement, and that one of them is a former police officer. According to the job description posted, the officers will be required to monitor the premises, direct visitors at each building, and “prevent harm by restraining trespassers”. However, both officers will be unarmed.
“He would have been much closer to a Myrtle Beach police officer if this person were equipped with a pistol and we’d rather those police officers be out on the streets,” Kruea said.
