23-05-2025
North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach PDs prepare for Memorial Day weekend
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Memorial Day weekend is the official start of the summer tourist season on the Grand Strand, and two local police departments are working to keep visitors and residents safe.
Leading up to the holiday weekend, North Myrtle Beach police officers say they drive around with pamphlets, educating people on how to stay safe in the city.
'It has safety information, some laws, and ordinances that we see as a problem, like burnouts, stopping in the road, that kind of thing,' Lt. Sean Downey said. 'It's just a quick leaflet that says, 'Hey. Welcome. Thanks for being here. This is what we expect from you. If you need us, this is how you contact us.''
Downey says hundreds of officers will patrol the city's streets during the holiday weekend.
'We've upstaffed with out-of-town, state and local, partners,' he said. 'They all come in today, so we'll brief them today. We house them and feed them for the weekend. We'll have north of 70-plus officers that will augment our officers. So, we'll have right around 200-plus officers on the road.'
For the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, Downey told News13 the city is setting up a traffic chute on Friday. It will affect northbound traffic from 37th Avenue South to 27th Avenue South.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol and SLED will also be along the traffic chute.
Similarly, the Myrtle Beach Police Department says traffic will be one-way on Ocean Boulevard this weekend. The northbound lanes are reserved for emergency personnel.
News13 asked beachgoers how they feel about the upcoming summer traffic.
'I'm sure, later on, it'll get kind of bad, which I'm kind of dreading,' Mina Jung said. 'But it'll be OK. I love coming to the beach, so it's worth it.'
Downey says North Myrtle Beach Ocean Rescue also increased lifeguard staffing for Memorial Day Weekend. Many lifeguards are already on the beach.
'We have QR codes on all of our lifeguard towers and our beach crossovers,' Downey said. 'So, people can scan that, and it gives them the current conditions.'
Downey says the city spends months preparing for more than 100,000 people Memorial Day Weekend. He says that when people feel safe, they come back.
'People have come here for years,' Downey said. 'Most everybody you talk to came here on vacation and moved here for that reason. There's a reason for that. There's a reason they want to come, and we want to keep that going.'
The Myrtle Beach Police Department said that during any weekend or special event, it plans to have additional resources and staffing in 'areas of interest.'
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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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