How many were cited under new curfew as Myrtle Beach seeks permanent change?
A stricter-than-usual juvenile curfew enforced over Fourth of July weekend in Myrtle Beach following a deadly shooting at downtown restaurant Peaches corner resulted in no arrests.
Myrtle Beach Police issued 30 warnings to minors in violation of the curfew. The city announced on Wednesday an executive order imposing an even stricter curfew over the next few weekends as it seeks to make changes permanent.
The initial temporary curfew, which was enforced from Wednesday to Monday in a “protected zone” in downtown Myrtle Beach, began at 10 p.m. each night and ended at 6 a.m. the next morning for those 17 and under. Outside of the protected zone, and under normal circumstances throughout the city, the juvenile curfew started at midnight.
In announcing the temporary change, the city expressed some hope that the new curfew would aid in addressing some of the “youth issues” on Ocean Boulevard, but acknowledged that it is not a “fix all” solution. Now, the city is looking to permanently alter its youth curfew.
Thirty juvenile warnings were issued during the temporary curfew “which included reuniting minors with their family members and escorting minors back to their hotels,” according to an email on Wednesday from Myrtle Beach Police Lt. Allen Amick.
According to police records, all but two of the violations took place in the popular tourist block of Ocean Boulevard, which has also been the site of multiple high-profile crimes involving minors in recent months.
The announcement of the temporary curfew came just days after the third shooting in Myrtle Beach’s popular Ocean Boulevard tourist area in recent months. The shooting claimed the life of 18-year-old Grayson Meyers, a Myrtle Beach resident, after police say he engaged in a verbal altercation with Peaches Corner employee Evony McCray, 17, in the restaurant. McCray, a Conway resident, then allegedly shot Meyers, who died at the scene.
Another shooting in April in the 900 block of North Ocean Boulevard injured 11 people, and involved a Myrtle Beach Police officer who shot and killed an 18-year-old who drew his weapon and shot into the crowd. Earlier last month, another shooting near Peaches Corner left one person injured from a gunshot.
Now, from Thursday through Sunday and from next Thursday to next Sunday, a 9 p.m. curfew will be enforced for juveniles in the downtown Myrtle Beach business area. This curfew trial is described as “one piece of a larger puzzle in the ongoing community effort to address juvenile issues in the Ocean Boulevard area” in an email from city spokesperson Meredith Denari announcing the order.
A new ordinance being considered by the city could make that stricter curfew permanent. At a Tuesday City Council meeting, the first reading of a new curfew ordinance was passed. This ordinance would enact a curfew starting at 9 p.m. in Myrtle Beach’s central business district, as well as public parks and properties throughout the city.
Assistant City Manager Josh Bruegger declined to answer questions about the new curfew ordinance emailed by The Sun News.He explained during the meeting that juvenile arrest data shows an “uptick” at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., which has informed the new proposed curfew time.
However, he also called youth crime a ”societal problem” and that a new curfew will not be “the end-all be-all” to solve the issue.
During the meeting, owners of businesses in the downtown Myrtle Beach area encouraged the change, raising safety concerns associated with ongoing youth violence in the area.
No additional officers were patrolling the area specifically to enforce the curfew, according to an email from Amick last week in response to questions from The Sun News about how the temporary curfew would be enforced. The Sun News previously reported. The city hoped for “voluntary compliance,” Bruegger previously told The Sun News in an email.
Minors found violating the curfew were detained until they could be released to a responsible party, and the city maintained the ability presented by the preexisting curfew to charge violators with a misdemeanor.
Under the new curfew ordinance, juveniles found in violation “shall have their case adjudicated and disposed of in accordance with the South Carolina Juvenile Justice Code,” according to the ordinance’s language. Adults violating the ordinance may have to pay a fine of no ore than $500, or serve a term in prison of no more than 30 days.
There are exceptions to the curfew, such as when a minor is accompanied by a guardian, working, traveling to or from certain kinds of activities, legally emancipated, or exercising First Amendment rights.
The city-wide midnight curfew would remain in effect outside of the areas included in this new ordinance.
The ordinance must pass a second reading to become final. This reading is expected to take place at the end of July.
