Has Myrtle Beach, Horry County seen a crime decrease since the coronavirus outbreak?
As Horry County hunkers down trying to slow the spread of coronavirus, the area has seen a dramatic drop in the number of 911 calls.
Over the last month, there has been a roughly 25 percent drop in the number of emergency calls going through county dispatchers. Horry County 911 handles most of the emergency calls, including all cellphone calls. Emergency calls from landlines in Myrtle Beach are answered by the city dispatchers.
In the week of March 8-14, there were 4,552 calls to 911 in Horry County. That figure is comparable to the week of March 10-16, 2019, which had 4,477 calls.
Over the last few weeks, the number of calls has declined as more restrictions have gone into place because of COVID-19. During the week of March 15-21, there were 4,245 calls. The week of March 22-28, had 3,835 calls. Last week there were 3,479 calls. Horry County police Chief Joe Hill said the area typically sees fewer calls with fewer tourists and schools out of session.
There’s also been a slight drop in the Horry County police activity, but it’s hard to tell if it is more than a blip, Hill said. In March 2019, Horry County police had 8,766 calls for service, compared to 8,564 last month. Department spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov noted that not all police actions are included in calls for service. For example, if an officer sees a resident trying to park at a closed beach access, and gives them a warning, that would not be included.
Burglaries have dropped from 84 in January to 40 in March, most likely because more people are at home. Shoplifting has also decreased from 93 in January to 72 this month.
Hill said officers are making fewer traffic stops for simple violations, which has led to fewer arrests when people are found with contraband.
Coronavirus’ most significant impact has been on how the department handles some calls. Some followups are being done by officers calling the person or referring residents to the online crime reporting website, Hill said. The site is for reporting crimes that don’t require an immediate response, such as an overnight car break-in.
If there is an emergency, Hill said officers are still responding to 911 calls.
Horry County 911 Director Renee Hardwick said at a recent county briefing that dispatchers are still answering calls, though they are asking more questions than typical. The questions include whether a person has been exposed to COVID-19.
She stressed the additional questions do not slow the response time.
“Please do not call 911 with non-emergency calls,” Hardwick said.
While recent weeks have seen a drop in 911 calls, Hill said it is hard to tell if the area will see a rise in crime as people spend more time at home without things to do.
“I just don’t know,” Hill said.
Myrtle Beach crime rate drops
Myrtle Beach has also seen a significant change in its numbers of calls for service and arrest bookings. In the week of March 17-23, 2019, the agency had 2,359 calls for service, 179 bookings and issued 522 citations.
During the week of March 15-21, 2020, those figures dropped to 1,780 calls for service, 62 bookings and 163 citations.
A similar decrease happened last week going from 2,446 calls for service in 2019 to 1,676 this year.
Arrests bookings dropped from 198 to 52 and citations from 577 to 130.
“The number of calls for service, arrests and citations have decreased because there are fewer people in town and most of those that are here are practicing good social distancing,” Cpl. Thomas Vest said.
The department has seen a decrease in traffic crashes, Vest said. There are more people staying home, which means fewer cars on the roads, but there are also fewer tourists with the hotels closed.
The department has not changed the number of officers on duty because of coronavirus, Vest said.
The department still responds to emergencies and has reopened its online reporting system on the Myrtle Beach website for crimes not in progress, Vest said.
“Our officers are working 24-7 to help our community through this tough time, and we want everyone to know that we are all in this together and here if you need us,” he said.
