For the second year in a row Myrtle Beach courts will operate twenty-four seven for Memoral Day weekend. With Bikefest being one of Myrtle Beach’s largest tourism events, local police officers say they see an influx of arrests.
More than twenty arrests were made in Myrtle Beach on Thursday night.
Captain Joey Crosby with the Myrtle Beach Police Department says having a judge no hand at all hours helps to avoid overcrowding in the jail.
“It’s very important for us that those individuals that get to J Reuben Long, we get them into a timely manner but also those that need to be released, we get to release them in a timely manner as well.” Crosby said.
In North Myrtle Beach, city spokesperson Pat Dowling says they would have ideally liked to have their jail renovated in time for the busy weekend but will have to work around it.
Dowling said nine arrests were made in North Myrtle Beach on Thursday night.
“We are transporting people over to J Reuben, we have a ten passenger bus or van and once we fill that up we take it over.” Dowling said.
Detention workers at J Reuben Long told News 13, in a twelve hour shift on Thursday night they took in 45 inmates. They also purchased new carts this week allowing them to process inmates faster and help avoid congestion.