Wednesday, tempers flared while several Myrtle Beach city officials met with members of the African American community to discuss plans for Memorial Day weekend and Bikefest.
“It’s not going to be as bad as some folks think it’s going to be as far as race, but we need to be mindful of the fact that anything is possible,” said Mickey James.
James is president of the Myrtle Beach area NAACP.
He says a few things concern him about the city’s plan; including how officers will handle the event.
“There is a great possibility that anything can break loose,” said James. “We want to make sure that these people, these officers, are trained to deal with folks not because of their color but because of human beings,” he added.
Lieutenant Joey Crosby of the Myrtle Beach Police Department says officers are qualified and trained to deal with diverse groups on a regular basis.
“This is not just about Memorial Day and how we interact with people, this is about every day of the year,” he said.
Myrtle Beach council member Mike Chestnut as well as city manager John Pedersen was also in attendance.
Pedersen says the Memorial Day weekend issue is extremely important to the community.
“We want to make sure that everyone understands what we are doing and why we are doing it,” said Pedersen.
City Officials say the goal of these meetings is to get input and to let the community know Myrtle Beach is ready for Memorial Day weekend.
“Every time we do one of these presentations we learn a little something and we’ll do a tweak here and a tweak there, but in the whole, the plan is done. We’re really in the execution phase,” said Pedersen.
James says his major concern is that everyone stays safe.
“We don’t need any more shootings in Myrtle Beach or anywhere,” he said.
Pedersen says the next step in the process for the city is to continue meetings with members of the community including community watch groups and business owners to make sure everyone is aware of the city’s Memorial Day weekend plan.
