U.S. Attorney announces $265,000 grant to fight gun crime in Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach will now have help from the federal government in putting violent criminals behind bars.
The $265,258 in U.S. Department of Justice funding will be used to hire special prosecutors to try federal firearms cases originating in the Myrtle Beach area, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The grant comes after a violent end to the summer season in Horry County. Shootings took the lives of a Myrtle Beach police officer, two beloved members of the Racepath community and armed suspects. Another shooting at an Ocean Boulevard hotel left one injured.
A review of FBI and U.S. Census Bureau data shows the violent crime rate in Myrtle Beach outpaces places like Virginia Beach, Va., and Daytona Beach, Fla. It even surpasses cities such as Chicago.
The federal grant is part of Operation Legend, an initiative led by the Department of Justice to lower violent crime.
“These funds will be crucial to our efforts to target firearms-related crimes in Myrtle Beach and throughout Horry County, and will help us keep the people of South Carolina safe,” U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy Jr. said in a statement.
The grant will support the hiring of full-time local prosecutors to try firearms cases in federal court, McCoy said.
“This is vital for this office, as we are a leading district in cases where defendants charged with firearms-related offenses receive sentences of at least five years or more,” he said.
The DOJ is spending more than $1.3 million nationally to fund special prosecutors who have been cross-designated to try federal firearms cases originating in different cities. The program allows federal law enforcement agencies to work closely with state and local officials to fight violent crime.
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 1:59 PM.
