MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The Myrtle Beach Police Department has gone through a lot of changes since bringing in new Police Chief, Amy Prock.
One of those changes is the addition of a new group of experienced officers called a “power shift.” The shift started in October and News13 followed up to see if it’s been successful.
“We want to assess our patrol zones,” said Chief Prock at a community meeting in September where she told people in Myrtle Beach about the new shift. “I’ve talked to several community members and they’ve talked about the importance of seeing officers in their community…I understand that.”
A typical shift for officers runs from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. but they needed more overlap. Captain Joey Crosby said the power shift will run from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. “to address those calls for service to prevent our officers from just going from call to call.”
Crosby said the goal is to be more proactive to crime than reactive.
“If we identify an area that needs saturation or we have a problem area, we can deploy those resources to that area, address that certain situation with that group of officers,” added Crosby.
Actions from the shift over the past three months include drugs busts, stolen vehicle arrests and arresting fugitives in Myrtle Beach from another state.
“It’s been very successful,” said Crosby.
He also explained how the hours and areas of focus will shift during the tourist season.
“To address two or three different problems. We may address an undercover capacity thing, such as prostitution and drugs, while we have officers in the tourist district moving crowds and things that occur down in that area as well,” said Crosby.
Right now, 13 experienced officers make up the power shift but Crosby said the department would look to add more in the future.
