MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach police released a video on their Facebook page Friday responding to a study that identifies Myrtle Beach as the third most dangerous city in the country.
The SafeWise report was released last week and ranks the 30 most dangerous cities in America. In this year’s study, Myrtle Beach dropped from the second most dangerous city in 2016 to the third most dangerous city, citing 15.75 violent crimes per 1,000 residents and 143.86 property crimes per 1,000.
In the video, police spokesman Captain Joey Crosby explains police are not questioning the data, which comes from the FBI, but they are instead concerned that the researchers behind the study use the city’s annual population in their calculations and do not take the number of tourists in the city into consideration.
“We are not naive and we understand that our city is not immune to crime just like many other cities across this country,” Captain Joey Crosby said in the video. “What is vital for our community to know is that your police department has developed an operational plan and a plan of action to address the criminal activity that has occurred in our city and we promise you that we will be proactive with our ideas and solutions.”
Emeryville, California was named the most dangerous city this year followed by Tukwila, Washington. Just behind Myrtle Beach in spot number four was Lumberton, North Carolina.
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina also made the top 30 list, and rang in at number 23.
If you’re interested in reading more about the SafeWise study, you can find the complete report here.