Police Chief Amy Prock recently spoke with reporters at Myrtle Beach Online , stating that crime has not only decreased inside the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, but that the drop is a whopping 21 percent less than it was just last year. Documents state that approximately 3,038 Part One crimes were reported to the authorities the year. That is less than 2017, which showed 3,869 Part One crime notifications.
Prock believes the new implementations set forth by Myrtle Beach police last December, which focused on communication within the department, can definitely be attributed to the 21 percent drop in crime. During the city’s council meeting earlier this week, Prock stated the department’s happiness with this success so far.
“We’re very happy with (the decrease in crimes) and we believe we can attribute that to several different things. I’m excited about the changes we made. I’m excited about the success.”
Part One crimes are defined as aggravated assaults, homicides, rape offenses, and robberies. A breakdown of the amount of these individual types of Part One crimes shows that homicide has actually remained the same as last year, with three homicides happening inside the city limits as of October. Aggravated assaults and larcenies have actually shown a decrease, despite being the highest reported Part One crimes for the third year in a row. Larceny is specifically noted as the highest reported incident inside Myrtle Beach’s city limits, cites Myrtle Beach Online . Aggravated assault, which is attacking another person while either showing a weapon off in a threatening way or going so far as to use a weapon on an individual, comes in second place. So far in 2018, 185 aggravated assaults have been reported to Myrtle Beach police officials.
Many of these violent crimes have taken place in the new Ocean Boulevard district, which runs from 16th Avenue North to 6th Avenue South. Reports show that one area of the district, Kings Highway, has been left out of the study. Among these violent crimes that have taken place inside the Ocean Boulevard district, officials state that two were homicides, two were robberies, and two were aggravated assaults. Six is certainly much lower than last year’s count, which came in at 29 crimes reported in the district between June and August.
What are the department’s plans moving forward in an effort to continue the decrease in violet crimes within this tourist populated beach city? According to Prock, the police plan to continue with their seven-year staffing plan. The plan states that the department will bring in 10 new officers over the course of seven years. Prock has also proposed pay raises for the officers currently employed, in what she believes will be a successful effort to aid retention inside her department.
