The city of Myrtle Beach is working on new ways to step up security.
The first phase of installing surveillance cameras in spots police call high crime or busy traffic areas is complete.
About 130 cameras are up and operation along Ocean Boulevard, they’re mounted from 29th Avenue North to King’s Highway on the south side.
They can be found on about every other block and at major intersections.
Visitors down on the boulevard had mixed reactions about the added eyes in the sky.
“It could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing, it’s all how they use it,” said Rodregiz Cole.
Cole is visiting the Grand Strand from Baltimore, Maryland, where living under the watch of surveillance camera’s is part of life.
“In my city where I’m from, all our blocks are under surveillance 24 / 7 and they really don’t work cause people still commit crimes on these same blocks,” he said.
Now, Ocean Boulevard is under surveillance, as part of a $2.1 million network that will eventually see more than 800 camera installed throughout Myrtle Beach.
According to Lt. Joey Crosby with the Myrtle Beach police, “the cameras serve multiple purposes. They allow us to collect evidence on any incident we may capture, they also allow us to monitor events we have on Ocean Blvd and also allow us to monitor any traffic congestions we may have and respond accordingly.”
Police say the cameras add an extra layer of security just in time for this year’s annual bike fest rally.
“This is a project we’ve been working on for a period of time now, so the cameras overall were very important and now that we have phase one up we’ll certainly be using them for bike fest,” said Crosby.
Steven Johnston is in town from Greenville and supports the idea, “i think it’s great there’s a lot of activity down here. We wanna know what’s going on.”
He believes its important for law enforcement to have as many tools as possible to keep people safe.
“Crime is gonna be there, but this will help i would think,” said Johnston.
Monitoring the surveillance feeds will be handled at the city’s dispatch center, so they can give officers responding to calls information in real time.
The final phases of installation should be complete sometime near the end of the year.
The first phase of installing surveillance cameras in spots police call high crime or busy traffic areas is complete.
About 130 cameras are up and operation along Ocean Boulevard, they’re mounted from 29th Avenue North to King’s Highway on the south side.
They can be found on about every other block and at major intersections.
Visitors down on the boulevard had mixed reactions about the added eyes in the sky.
“It could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing, it’s all how they use it,” said Rodregiz Cole.
Cole is visiting the Grand Strand from Baltimore, Maryland, where living under the watch of surveillance camera’s is part of life.
“In my city where I’m from, all our blocks are under surveillance 24 / 7 and they really don’t work cause people still commit crimes on these same blocks,” he said.
Now, Ocean Boulevard is under surveillance, as part of a $2.1 million network that will eventually see more than 800 camera installed throughout Myrtle Beach.
According to Lt. Joey Crosby with the Myrtle Beach police, “the cameras serve multiple purposes. They allow us to collect evidence on any incident we may capture, they also allow us to monitor events we have on Ocean Blvd and also allow us to monitor any traffic congestions we may have and respond accordingly.”
Police say the cameras add an extra layer of security just in time for this year’s annual bike fest rally.
“This is a project we’ve been working on for a period of time now, so the cameras overall were very important and now that we have phase one up we’ll certainly be using them for bike fest,” said Crosby.
Steven Johnston is in town from Greenville and supports the idea, “i think it’s great there’s a lot of activity down here. We wanna know what’s going on.”
He believes its important for law enforcement to have as many tools as possible to keep people safe.
“Crime is gonna be there, but this will help i would think,” said Johnston.
Monitoring the surveillance feeds will be handled at the city’s dispatch center, so they can give officers responding to calls information in real time.
The final phases of installation should be complete sometime near the end of the year.
