Beachgoers express concerns about recent Horry County beach patrol changes
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Beachgoers are sharing concerns after Horry County police said they were changing the way they patrol the beaches following a woman’s death last week.
The Nash Street public beach access, where 66-year-old Sandra “Sandy” Shultz-Peters was killed, had an increased number of cones on Friday.
Viewer submitted photos, as well as video taken by News13 last Thursday, the day Schultz-Peters was run over by an HCPD truck while sitting on the beach, show only two cones at the beach access entrance, which are placed not very far from the sand dunes.
Public officials said the orange cones lining the beaches serve a dual purpose. They create a route for emergency vehicles and alert beachgoers to avoid sitting in those areas.
On Friday, the cones appeared to be much closer to the ocean than before, and have at least five on each side as well as multiple along the coastline.
One local lifeguard agency told News13 that they are responsible for placing the cones. Most are provided by the Myrtle Beach Police Department.
James Mosley, a Myrtle Beach resident, said the recent incident makes him think twice before deciding where to sit on the beach.
“It does make you be afraid to want to go on the beach, and the public and tourists want to come on the beach,” Mosley said. “And now, there’ll be scared after this to be on the beach. It’s bad enough [with] the sharks out there. Now, you got policemen running over people.”
Horry County Police said they immediately began to decrease the use of trucks and increase the use of foot and ATV patrols. But Mosley said the ATVs still present a danger to the public.
“People get killed on them all the time, and if they just get it all done on foot, it’d be a lot better for everybody,” he said. “Can’t do it on foot, don’t do it at all.”
Sherry Faile said that while the changes are good, the lack of any police presence in the area is concerning.
“I saw this tent out here. That is an Horry county ordinance that you cannot have a tent out here. Well, we have not seen a cop nor lifeguard asking them to remove their tent. I have been out here since 11 a.m. in there. I have not seen one cop. And I don’t understand,” Faile said. “You got somebody breaking the ordinance that, before, has been breaking the speed limit to get down here to make a move. But they hadn’t done it today.”
Tents have been banned on Horry County Beaches since 2014.
Savannah Denton joined News 13 in July 2023 as a reporter and producer. Savannah is from Atlanta, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Alabama. Follow Savannah on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of her work here.
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