The size of crime that happens in Hurry County is the main concern of the locals.
Not only crime is increasing, but also the audacity of the suspects commit crimes.
In recent months “Two that were deadly – On the North Ocean Boulevard at Myrtle Beach.
The data show that some areas of the Hurry County receive a larger number of crimes than other areas. But in fact, no area was immunized by criminal activity.
Hurry County County Chief Chris Leonhardt said he was about to be one of the most busy in the number of police incidents this year.
The greater part of them is found near permanent residents along the coast with the gang, increasing near the internal cities of Ainor and Longs, Leonhard said.
However, an independent statistical crime organization shows that most of the crimes of violence occur in the tourist areas of the county as well as in the Carolina Forest.
Carolina Forest in the Myrtle Beach area is a huge population growth, which requires the construction of additional schools, the roads to be expanded and emergency services to build additional fire stations and add more police units to keep up with the influx of crime and growth.
Hurry County police are adding a fifth police station in the Carolina Forest area, which will be applied in August, and a new department for the band level of the band, which is already available.
During a public safety meeting in June, Leonhardt highlighted high calls for more than 16,000 received in May. This includes 337 calls for violent crimes, according to Hurry County, the Program for a Public Safety Committee meeting in May.
Service calls occur when the emergency staff is asked to respond to an emergency, such as a 911 call or a passerby directive.
Last year, police received more than 17,000 service calls. But Hurry police also did not have as deadly or violent incidents as this year, the chief said.
Where is the most crime?
Tourist areas dominate Hurry County Calls, police data show.
The southern region covers Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach and Socastee, which has almost always received the largest calls for the four regions of Hurry County from 2023 to May 2025. Leonhard said the south is the most busy because most permanent residents live there.
But a more detailed map of a crime class shows that most incidents of crimes per capita per capita in Hurry County are found in tourist areas where smaller residents live, not in succuscies or other residential areas.
Crimes of crimes across the country, based on the forecast for machine learning from previous reported data. At the end of each projection, it gives an assessment. Myrtle Beach won D+ for its overall crime assessment.
The crime card shows that at Myrtle Beach in Myrtle Beach in Myrtle, near the 21st and 22nd Avenues north to Springmaid Beach, and even in the market common area. This area includes popular tourist destinations such as the North Ocean Boulevard.
However, the crime assessment indicated that these areas could show partly a major crime because of the few permanent residents in the area.
“Visitor’s high trafficking areas, such as commercial areas, can have higher levels of crime, simply because more crimes occur where people gather – even if few residents live there,” according to the interpretation of the crime website. “The southern part of the county has more retail establishments that can artificially inflate the levels of violence in this area.”
This is the same explanation suggested by myrtle Beach employees and police chief Amy Proc, who said that many of the recent crimes in the city were committed by people who are not from the Harry County.
The deadly mass shooting, including a police officer in Myrtle Beach in April, happened in a 900 block on the North Ocean Boulevard and began after a teenager of Marlborough County, who is said to have fired his weapon in a crowd along a busy sidewalk in the city center.
Marlborough County, which includes Bennettsville, where the shooter lived, received F for a crime and the city was shown with a high level of crime, according to crime data.
Other areas with high Harry County include a forest of Carolina and neighborhoods along the SC 9 between Loris and Longs, where Hurry County police said the band’s activity was high.
Recent data show that the southern section has received over 6,000 service calls in May.
The northern area, which contains long, Little River and North Myrtle Beach, is the fastest growing area in the county and where the new bandit of the county focuses much of its efforts, Leonhard said.
He received more than 4700 service calls in May.
Leonhard said Hurry County is not necessarily more dangerous, but residents see more crimes due to the efforts of the transparency of the department and the media coverage.
“We see a bigger crime, so to speak,” Leonhard said. “We have always had problems with crime. I think we are doing a better job to get this information there to our audience, so we are more transparent, showing what is happening in your community. So I think it’s great.”
Locals also commit a crime
However, Myrtle Beach continues to be reported as one of the most dangerous cities in South Carolina, according to previous reports. This is something that urban authorities are constantly simplifying.
Police agencies in Hurry County reported 19 murders, according to the latest South Carolina Crime Report in 2023. This issue is larger than almost all other police agencies in the state, although the percentage of killing per capita is lower than other counties, such as Marlborough, The columns of Florence and Marion, the report showed.
Leonhardt said that despite skepticism that most crimes come from people outside the myrtle Beach area, he is more complicated than placing most non-dedicated blades. Many permanent residents also commit a crime in Hurry County, he said.
More than 17 million people visit the Myrtle Beach area every year according to Visit Myrtle Beach.
“We have a mix really because we are such a destination,” Leonhard said. “So you will see a part of what I call” transitional crime “, they come here, they will look for opportunities if they find them, exploit them, then leave.”
HCPD strategy
In order to cope with the influx of people in Hurry County, the department will apply the fifth police station in the Carolina Forest area until August 26.
The department also filled about 50 positions in two years, which is unprecedented for other departments in the area, said HCPD public information employee Michael Moskov.
Myrtle Beach police said earlier that there was a shortage of 50 officers.
“We always follow our statistics,” Leonhard said. “Growth really caused the desire to start a new section and be able to provide better services.”
Hurry’s population has increased by over 60,000 people or 17.1% from 2020 to 2024, according to the US census.
Myrtle Beach police and Hurry police are investigating a crash that happened after four masked men fired guns with officers during a high -speed pursuit on Thursday, May 225. The pursuit began near Farow Park.
Leonhardt said the main strategy for the safety of the department was determining by visibility.
“Being this visible deterrent is a huge first step,” Leonhard said. “But on the back of this, it goes to grow those special units that can focus on special crimes. We are raising our traffic team, we are raising our street crime team, our drug team, the application of the new part of the gang has helped, I think this is a good combination of everything that makes our community really.”
Leonhard has been working with HCPD since 2002 and has lived in the county for 6 or 7 years, he said.
Despite many of the crimes that residents see in the area, he could not choose a place he would not live in.
“I live in the small river. I lived there all my life. I don’t plan to go anywhere,” Leonhard said. “I love it. This is just my area, so I think to say an area that I would not be able to do because everything is unique and brings its special taste.”