Which beach town has the most violent crime reports? How Myrtle Beach compares to them.
While Myrtle Beach officials praised a drop in their violent crime rate, the data shows the city ranks last compared to other popular beach towns.
A review of FBI and U.S. Census data shows the violent crime rate in Myrtle Beach outpaces places like Virginia Beach, Virginia and Daytona Beach, Florida. It even surpasses places like Chicago.
The ranking comes after several shootings along Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach. Officials quickly praised the dropping violent crime rate here, but an analysis of other beach communities shows a different trend.
Myrtle Beach had 473 violent crimes reported in 2018 — the most recent year data is available through the FBI reporting database. The city had a population of 31,783 in 2018, according to U.S. Census data. So for every 100,000 people, there are 1,488 violent crimes reported.
Compared to 10 other beach communities, the Myrtle Beach violent crime rate per 100,000 people was the worst. The rate of violent crimes per 100,000 people allows a comparison between populations of varying sizes. Ocean City, Maryland, was the next highest at 1,330 per 100,000 people. Virginia Beach had the lowest at 142 per 100,000 people.
Chicago has a rate of 1,013 per 100,000 people.
Myrtle Beach has seen five high-profile shootings near Ocean Boulevard in the last month, including a fatal Memorial Day shooting near 15th Avenue South.
The violence near the tourist-populated areas has led some on social media to decry Myrtle Beach as unsafe and say they will no longer visit the Grand Strand.
In the immediate aftermath, city officials and police applauded the city’s dropping crime rate. While the current crime rate has fallen since 2013, its largely due to an abnormal drop in the number of robbery cases. In 2013, there were 178 robberies in Myrtle Beach, according to city data. In 2019, that figure dropped to 98. Police have not said if any one factor led to the drop in robberies.
Aggravated assaults, rapes and homicides (going from two to three) are all up in 2019 compared to 2013, according to city data. The city’s report also doesn’t note the location of the crimes.
At a Wednesday city council meeting, Chief Amy Prock discussed some of the measures police will enact starting this weekend to try and curb the violence that has marred Ocean Boulevard in recent weeks.
“We’re going to be flexible so we can address the issues that are occurring,” Prock said.
The chief detailed a lengthy plan that included adding dispatchers and having the investigative division handle all serious crimes.
Myrtle Beach police will also utilize outside agencies to beef up the police presence near Ocean Boulevard.
The department plans to redeploy officers in three block zones from 21st Avenue North to 17th Avenue South, Prock said. There will be at least three officers in each zone.
Calls where a report is needed will be handled by the patrol division, which will come in from outside Ocean Boulevard to allow waterfront officers to maintain their presence near the area.
“That is what we’re doing from now on,” she said.
Prock said the department will use its social media platforms to communicate with visitors.
Myrtle Beach plans to implement a traffic congestion plan that will close Ocean Boulevard between 16th Avenue North and 3rd Avenue South starting at 9 p.m. The closure could be started earlier in the day if needed.
This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 3:29 PM.
