SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – During Hurricane Dorian, several areas put a curfew in place, that included Surfside Beach where the continus curfew lasted 35 hours.
According to Police Chief Kenny Hofmann, officers made contact with 222 vehicles and pedestrians during that time. Of those stopped 34 were issued citations. Eight of those citations were Surfside residents, 26 were non-residents. Of the residents cited, seven were ticketed during the day and one at night. For non-residents, 20 were cited during the day and six at night.
Chief Hofmann says that those that gave reasonable explanations for why they were moving around were not cited.
“The feedback we have received from the residents and business owners supporting the curfew was overwhelming.” Says Chief Hofmann, “The purpose was to protect life and property. I realize that getting a citation is never pleasant, but those who were cited were not coming or going from work or involved in essential activities. Those cited were sightseeing during a hurricane and placing themselves, their passengers, and our first responders in harm’s way.”
The Chief also released crime statistics for the time the curfew was in effect.
- Residential Burglaries reported: 0
- Commercial Burglaries reported: 0
- Violent crimes reported: 0
- Other thefts reported: 0
- Jeeps on the beach: 0
