MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – On Wednesday afternoon, Myrtle Beach Police Chief, Amy Prock, said she wants to change the way officers are used along the oceanfront.
This comes as first responders plan for the upcoming tourist season and try to learn from the violence last season where multiple shootings happened in the city.
Prock’s new deployment plan would change who would respond to non-criminal calls first. In the past, the lifeguards and beach patrol officers would be the primary response for ocean rescues, first aid calls and missing kids. Now she wants to give those calls over to the fire department so the police department can focus on law enforcement.
“We’re still going to deploy our officers on the beach but we’re also going to be able to put our officers on the street as well,” said Prock. The beach patrol officers will technically switch over to the patrol division but will still work from the sand up to Kings Highway.
“As everybody knows, it’s difficult to keep adequate police officers,” said Myrtle Beach Fire Chief, Alvin Payne. “So it’s just a modification of resources to try to get better response.”
Under the plan, an additional fire crew would be added as well as a Beach Front Supervisor and coverage would be staggered from 9 a.m-9 p.m. The city expects overtime for the additional crew to cost about $67,000 on top of overtime accrued for all other personnel. The Beach Front Supervisor position is expected to cost about $118,989 which includes salary, benefits and a vehicle.
“I don’t think you lose anything,” said Chief Payne. “I think that we really are enhancing police coverage as well as fire coverage on the beach.”
The chairman of the Beach Advisory Committee and several other members said the plan was a little confusing but Chief Prock assured them officers will still be on the beach.
“We are not going anywhere,” she said. “We’re here to stay. We will continue to be on the beach. We’re here to do our law enforcement responsibilities and we’re here to be there for those beach rescues when necessary.”
Wednesday’s presentation was the first time the committee heard of the plan and did not feel prepared to make a recommendation to Myrtle Beach City Council. However, the next step is to present the plan to the council in hopes to deploy the pilot program by March 31st.
