Myrtle Beach interim chief will be sworn in as permanent top cop

This story has been updated.

Interim Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock will take the position permanently at 4 p.m. on Monday.

Prock, a 20-year veteran of the department, took the interim role when former Chief Warren Gall stepped down in late May. She will be the first female chief in the department’s history.

City Manager John Pedersen, who has the authority to hire and fire Myrtle Beach’s top cop, had previously told The Sun News he was not planning to mount a search for a new chief.

He said on Friday that Prock was well-liked by officers and that she had experience in the community that an outside candidate would take years to accumulate.

“I think that Myrtle Beach is an extremely unique community,” Pedersen said. “The challenges that we have here, the environment that we have here is really unique.”

Lt. Joey Crosby of Myrtle Beach police said Prock was unavailable for comment Friday. “She is attending various meetings today and previous commitments,” Crosby wrote in a text message.

Gall left immediately before Atlantic Beach Bikefest on Memorial Day weekend, one of the biggest events for law enforcement all year. Subsequent reporting by The Sun News showed that at least some members of city council were displeased with policing strategy before Gall departed, saying in emails that more police presence was needed in the area round central Ocean Boulevard.

On Friday, Mayor John Rhodes said of Prock, “She’s got my support and all of council’s support.”

“I’m excited. I really have all the confidence in the world that Chief Prock is going to do an outstanding job for us,” he said.

Policing tactics came back into the spotlight just a few weeks ago, when Myrtle Beach saw six shootings in a three day period. One shooting, in the early morning hours of Father’s Day, sent six people to the hospital and has been viewed by millions on Facebook.

The name of the suspected shooter in that case, who is still hospitalized, has not been released by police.

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach interim chief will be sworn in as permanent top cop."