Merge Horry County Police Dept into the Horry County Sheriff's Office
Did you know Horry County is the only county in South Carolina that has a county police department and a sheriff’s department?
A police department separate from the sheriff came about in the 1950s when the late Sen. James P. Stevens created it as retaliation against Sheriff John Henry, his political rival. After retiring from politics after a long, distinguished career, Sen. Stevens wrote that it was a mistake to create the county police department.
The S.C. Constitution clearly states certain high offices must be filled by the voters. The sheriff, treasurer, clerk of court and auditor are some of the offices the constitution says must be elected by the people. Law enforcement in the counties is the jurisdiction of an elected sheriff.
The public had an opportunity to vote on merging the two law enforcement agencies in 1998. The initiative to put the county police under control of the sheriff failed to pass.
Now is the time to correct this issue.
Please sign if you support one law enforcement agency operated by Horry County.
This matters, let your county counciman know your thoughts on the matter.
Updates
May 24, 2016
Seeing this much energy behind the idea of finally fixing this weird historical relic honestly blows my mind. It makes me realize that so many people are just as fed up with the confusion of having two separate departments as I am, and honestly, the momentum feels like it is actually building toward a real conversation.
12 Comments
As a resident served by the Horry County Sheriff's Department and the Horry County Police, it's time to merge the departments back into one. This will create a department that will be more efficient and less costly to the taxpayers.
I choose Philip Thompson /Horry County Sheriff,to merge the Horry County Police Department with the Horry County Sheriff's Department,as one Department not Two. It's time for a change.Sheriff Philip Thompson does an excellent Job,and Chief Saundra Rhodes is Leaving her job as chief,so it's time to move forward with this merger and become the Horry County Sheriff's Department
It's time. Horry County no longer needs two separate departments. Sheriff Thompson does an outstanding job. Now that Chief Rhodes is leaving let's combine the departments and move forward like the progressive County we are.
I think that keeping the departments separate will have it to where the officers will probably remain. Doing a merge will cause more officers to find other departments or agencies to work for. Leave it the way it currently is.
ok, in Horry County the police work the roads, have detectives, handle calls for crimes, school resource officers, the airports with TSA, beach patrol,etc. The Sheriff handles the jail, court security, serve warrants, serves papers, etc. IN SC the Sheriff's do all of that as one law enforcement agency NOT TWO ! Get it ? The Horry County system need only be 1. The Sheriff. Time to merge under one umbrella and operate as it should.
End corruption
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Merge Horry County Police Dept into the Horry County Sheriff's Office
Did you know Horry County is the only county in South Carolina that has a county police department and a sheriff’s department?
A police department separate from the sheriff came about in the 1950s when the late Sen. James P. Stevens created it as retaliation against Sheriff John Henry, his political rival. After retiring from politics after a long, distinguished career, Sen. Stevens wrote that it was a mistake to create the county police department.
The S.C. Constitution clearly states certain high offices must be filled by the voters. The sheriff, treasurer, clerk of court and auditor are some of the offices the constitution says must be elected by the people. Law enforcement in the counties is the jurisdiction of an elected sheriff.
The public had an opportunity to vote on merging the two law enforcement agencies in 1998. The initiative to put the county police under control of the sheriff failed to pass.
Now is the time to correct this issue.
Please sign if you support one law enforcement agency operated by Horry County.
This matters, let your county counciman know your thoughts on the matter.
Updates
May 24, 2016
Seeing this much energy behind the idea of finally fixing this weird historical relic honestly blows my mind. It makes me realize that so many people are just as fed up with the confusion of having two separate departments as I am, and honestly, the momentum feels like it is actually building toward a real conversation.
12 Comments
It only makes sense to me to merge the Horry County Police into the Horry County Sheriff's Dept.
As a resident served by the Horry County Sheriff's Department and the Horry County Police, it's time to merge the departments back into one. This will create a department that will be more efficient and less costly to the taxpayers.
I choose Philip Thompson /Horry County Sheriff,to merge the Horry County Police Department with the Horry County Sheriff's Department,as one Department not Two. It's time for a change.Sheriff Philip Thompson does an excellent Job,and Chief Saundra Rhodes is Leaving her job as chief,so it's time to move forward with this merger and become the Horry County Sheriff's Department
It's time. Horry County no longer needs two separate departments. Sheriff Thompson does an outstanding job. Now that Chief Rhodes is leaving let's combine the departments and move forward like the progressive County we are.
I think that keeping the departments separate will have it to where the officers will probably remain. Doing a merge will cause more officers to find other departments or agencies to work for. Leave it the way it currently is.
ok, in Horry County the police work the roads, have detectives, handle calls for crimes, school resource officers, the airports with TSA, beach patrol,etc. The Sheriff handles the jail, court security, serve warrants, serves papers, etc. IN SC the Sheriff's do all of that as one law enforcement agency NOT TWO ! Get it ? The Horry County system need only be 1. The Sheriff. Time to merge under one umbrella and operate as it should.
End corruption
If you feel this way, why don't you state who you are ?
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It only makes sense to me to merge the Horry County Police into the Horry County Sheriff's Dept.