MYRTLE BEACH (WBTW) – A group of women who live in the south end of Myrtle Beach are taking action to bring their community together, and keep away crime.
“We decided we want to take this neighborhood back,” said Debbie Young. She and Bettie Olivieri came up with a plan to clean-up their neighborhood, and take their safety into their own hands. Olivieri has lived in Myrtle Beach for most of her life and says “there’s so much crime in this area that’s just gotten out of hand and it just needs to stop.”
The two women are starting a Neighborhood Crime Watch for people who live and work between 4th Avenue South and 18th Avenue South of Myrtle Beach. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m. at the Coral Beach Resort. Young lives on 15th Avenue South, where she says someone broke into her home just two weeks ago.
“That really shook me up in terms of, how safe are we? But it’s the whole area. We need to do something,” she said.
The Neighborhood Crime Watch will meet once every month with members of the Myrtle Beach Police and Fire departments. Community members will be able to express their concerns with law enforcement and first responders, who will, in turn, share any issues they’ve noticed as well.
Organizers also want to appoint “block captains” along the 14 block stretch, who will alert their neighbors and police if they see anything suspicious.
“For too long, it seems like people have looked the other way,” Young said.
Olivieri added, “It’s gotten bad over the years. It’s gotten bad.”
Capt. Joey Crosby says the women approached Myrtle Beach Police with the idea to create a new crime watch group. He said the department is always open to hearing what they can do to help keep neighborhoods safe.
“That is our goal. We are always encouraging our community to get involved and be active in their community, and for the community to come to us and say ‘This is what we want,'” Crosby said.
Young and Olivieri said their goal is to help their neighborhood lose its stigma and thrive once again. “We’re hoping to push the crime out. We’re hoping to get our neighbors to be more aware of what’s around them, and to report it,” said Young.
After the first meeting on Feb. 20, the Neighborhood Crime Watch will meet once a month.