Does Myrtle Beach Police Department reflect diversity of community? Here’s what we found
With a higher percentage of white officers, Myrtle Beach Police Department’s staff doesn’t reflect the diversity of the residents they serve.
Myrtle Beach Police provided information on its staff’s ethnic groups and gender.
Earlier this year, The Sun News looked at North Myrtle Beach and Conway police departments — which includes officers and administrative positions — and compared each ethnicity groups and gender to the latest U.S. Census data for each areas. At the time of the story’s publication on Aug. 12, The Sun News had not received Myrtle Beach’s information.
Myrtle Beach Police reported having 299 employees as of Aug. 14. The city’s population estimate as of July 1, 2022, was 38,417.
According to the department’s demographics, Myrtle Beach reports that 89% of its staff identifies as white, compared to 72.2% of city residents. The numbers also show that 6.7% of employees identify as Black compared to 17.5% of the population, and 4.3% identify as Hispanic or Latino while 13.3% of residents identify as such.
When looking at gender, 28% of the police department identify as women, including its police chief Amy Prock. That is compared to 51.6% of residents.
These are the figures provided by Myrtle Beach Police. The data was provided through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Total employees: 299
Male employees: 215
Female employees: 84
Caucasian employees: 266
Black employees: 20
Hispanic employees: 13
According to 2022 Census data, here is a breakdown of the city of Myrtle Beach’s population:
White alone: 72.2%
Black or African American: 17.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native: 0.1%
Asian alone: 1.2%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 0.0%
Two or more races: 7.7%
Hispanic or Latino: 13.3%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: 65.2%
Myrtle Beach Police announced on its Facebook page in October the hiring of six new officers.
“The goal of the Myrtle Beach Police Department is to have a diverse, inclusive staff,” the department’s FOIA coordinator Lydia Chichester said in an email. “The City of Myrtle Beach also has been working with resources such as Handshake to assist us with recruiting at Historical Black Colleges or Universities, and Diversityjobs.com to assist us with reaching a more diverse audience. Diversityjobs.com sends our active open positions to various community organizations and linkage agents to promote our job vacancies.”
“The Myrtle Beach Police Department understands that we are in a very competitive market to hire law enforcement personnel, but we are dedicated to our commitment of hiring well qualified candidates to serve our great city,” Chichester said. “We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, political affiliation or disability.”
