An interesting twist to the decision to encrypt Horry County Police (HC PD) communications. Of forty-six counties in South Carolina, Horry is the only remaining county to have a county-wide police department. The Horry County Sheriff's Office, headed by an elected official, while having county-wide law enforcement authority, primarily operates the County detention center, provides courthouse security, serves court processes, operates the County's sex-offender registry and provides services like funeral escorts.
Lately, there have been multiple negative articles about the HC PD, reviving a discussion about "consolidation" -- eliminating the Horry County Council controlled police, along with the Council's prerogative to hire and fire the police chief -- an idea rejected by voters in a referendum a few years ago, but again regaining interest.
A bit off topic, but there's been a sea change (after all, this is a coastal community) in Myrtle Beach government, that recently began encrypting their police communications. The former Public Information Officer outright defeated a long-time incumbent mayor in a three-way race, that even the winner thought, at best, would result in a run-off election. The current police chief is retiring, and there's rumblings about the city manger's job performance.
Are there opportunities here to reverse prior decisions?
