MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – After a violent few months in the City of Myrtle Beach, the city now has a new police chief.
Amy Prock just dropped the title as interim chief and was moved to chief Monday afternoon. Prock has took over as interim chief after former Chief Warren Gall retired from the department. She’s been with the Myrtle Beach Police Department for 20 years.
After she was sworn in as chief, she stood before community members, surrounding law enforcement agencies, and her fellow officers to say that the department was in a transition period.
She stressed the need to add more officers to the department and work on ways to, recruit new officers, better retention rates, and better pay. She says they will start with a comprehensive pay study.
The chief touched on the violence the city has seen in the last month, and she said the department and safety in the city was heading in a new direction.
“We’re not living in the rear-view. We’re focused on the windshield. I want our community to know that we as a police department will continue to hold those accountable for their unlawful actions. We will not tolerate acts of violence. We will not tolerate acts of violence,” said Prock.
Prock said they were going to look at how officers were distributed in the city and their calls for service to see if changes need to be made. She says she also plans to review their special teams and the way they deploy officers.
Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said changes are needed in the department, and he thinks Prock is the start to the change the city needs.
“I believe that she is going to make changes. She’s the one that’s going to lead us on down to what we need, and she’s going to do everything she can to get more police officers hired,” said Rhodes.
City Manager John Pedersen said he would soon be working with Prock to make sure she had all of the resources she needs to keep the city safe.
He said one of the first things he plans to do is work with the chief to retain officers and work on ways to give them better pay.