Horry County officers ‘are gonna just leave’ after Myrtle Beach police pay proposal

A proposed City of Myrtle Beach plan to increase police pay to $44,0000 could mean that entry-level certified officers in Horry County would be earning $7,000 less than their counterparts patroling in the city.

The certified county officers earn almost $37,000.

The county has already proposed a plan to divert $1 million in general fund money formerly used to fund the Coast RTA bus system to give officers a pay raise.

But what would that raise look like, and how would it help the Horry County police in their efforts to recruit and retain officers, is not clear.

“We just don’t know,” said Horry County police Chief Joe Hill. “It is a concern for us because folks are going to just leave, potentially because they need to earn more money. So we’ve got to sit down and talk to the council and plan around it.”

The City of Myrtle Beach recently proposed a pay increase to help the city hire and retain more officers, although the plan still needs to be approved and could mean a tax increase for city residents. The pay increase would start in January.

Hill said the county had more to offer than just a paycheck, and that there are a lot of unknowns when it come to recruiting.

“We have very sound leadership, I think we’re heading in the right direction,” he said. “We have a larger policing area, we have take-home cars, we have a lot of benefits for coming to Horry County besides a paycheck.”

Some benefits have been cut, he said.

“Horry County did away with lifetime health care benefits a number of years ago and that hurt us,” said Hill. “I’ve spoken with several officers who have gone to SLED, Highway Patrol, DNR, and one of the reasons they left is because they offered lifetime health care.

“We lost three officers last month to SLED,” said Hill. “These are top-tier officers. They come looking for Horry County because our training now is top-notch, our selection process is top notch, so if I was another agency in the region, I’m looking for Horry County officers.”

Hill said that no one becomes a police officer for the money

“No one’s going to get rich working as a cop,” he said, “So we’ve got to look at the other positives.”

The money that the county is looking at setting aside for Horry County police raises would be based upon educational achievement.

“We are talking about an educational incentive, we’re talking about an increase in pay if you have education and money set aside to go back to school if you choose to do that,” said Hill.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Horry County officers ‘are gonna just leave’ after Myrtle Beach police pay proposal."