Perception vs. reality: Myrtle Beach wants to change thoughts about downtown crime

Myrtle Beach is working to improve the perception of safety in the downtown area.

A newly proposed police plan focused on activating empty spaces, tightening nuisance laws and cleaning up the city by having extra eyes out for illegal dumping, graffiti and property maintenance is aimed at doing just that.

“I think the perception trails the reality, and that’s something we have to be mindful of,” City Manager John Pedersen said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “As we make it safer, I think the public’s perception is going to be rooted in what it was a couple of years ago.”

Last year, seven shootings broke out over Father’s Day weekend, including one along Ocean Boulevard that left several people injured and threw Myrtle Beach into the national spotlight.

Now, the plan calls for a change in infrastructure to make it naturally policed. This means building stairwells with windows, having visible parking lots, improving street lighting and maintaining landscaping.

Officers will also start working with city officials out on the streets, including code enforcement officers and construction services.

“We’re excited about continuing these efforts,” Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock said during the meeting. “Each officer that works in our department takes pride in our community. They’re the ones that notice what lights are out.”

The plan also calls for tougher nuisance laws, focusing on properties that continuously have public safety officials responding, and activating empty spaces — a focus of city council and the Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation, a non-profit arm of the city.

The activation of empty spaces has lead to several events, including the Boardwalk Bonanza held this past summer at the former Pavilion spot in downtown Myrtle Beach.

While bringing vendors and performances to the downtown area is still a focus of city council moving forward, Pedersen suggested generating traffic in Withers Swash Park.

Pedersen said he’s reached out to city officials to “make sure we’ve got standard activities there, we’re generating people so that we have a lot more activity there, so that the negative stuff that happens in that park is pushed out somewhere else, hopefully someplace not in the city limits of Myrtle Beach.”

The plan is the fourth in a series aimed at decreasing crime at the beach.

Last October, city council passed a plan to fully staff the police department by adding 10 officers over the course of seven years. At the start of the year, Prock introduced raises for officers to increase retention in the department. Around the same time, the city hired two new code enforcement officers.

Last month, Prock announced a 21 percent decrease in Part 1 crimes — aggravated assaults, robberies, homicides and rape offenses — since 2017.

“I don’t know 100 percent what they’re doing, but it’s clearly working,” Dan Douglas of Benchmark Planners said.

Douglas, along with Jason Epley, is working with the city to create a downtown master plan. In late October, Douglas identified the perception of crime in downtown Myrtle Beach as a key issue.

“It’s still perceived in the community as a place that’s not safe,” Douglas said in October, citing older motels in the south mixed-use area as a key spot on the crime map.

On Tuesday, Douglas again emphasized rundown motels, saying he was looking at studies at how to address the issue.

Pedersen said the city is working to address which properties attract a high number of public safety calls and that he soon will present a list to council.

“I think this is really important,” councilwoman Mary Jeffcoat said. “This one is really excited because it’s not going to cost us any money.”