Grand Strand officers put trust in police training for Memorial Day weekend

Local law enforcement officials said the officer-involved shooting in North Charleston Saturday does not shake the confidence they have in Grand Strand officers who will police large crowds of mostly black tourists during Memorial Day weekend.

Former North Charleston Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager was charged Tuesday with the murder of 50-year-old Walter Lamer Scott, who was unarmed. Witness video released Tuesday depicted Slager shooting at Scott from a distance eight times as Scott ran away.

Slager, who is white, said he killed Scott, a black man, in self-defense. He initially was not charged, but police arrested him after a witness provided video of the incident. North Charleston officials said Wednesday that Slager was fired from his job.

Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes also said he felt confident that police were prepared to handle the influx of tourists in town that weekend.

“I look at our officers, and the officers that we’re bringing on board, and feel confident that they have been trained,” Rhodes said.

Tens of thousands of people come to town that weekend to take advantage of a three-day weekend or attend festivals including the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, which was started in the 1980s by a group of black motorcyclists.

Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach city councils have signed mutual aide agreements with North Charleston police – as well as several other jurisdictions – to provide assistance during Memorial Day weekend.

North Myrtle Beach spokesman Pat Dowling said the same three or four motorcycle officers have helped the city with Bikefest policing for years.

“We’ve had no complaints whatsoever with the services that they’ve provided,” he said. “They know our style of policing, which is dealing with residents and visitors in a friendly, respectful manner. ... What happened in North Charleston is not an indictment on the department. There is one officer who is accused of murder.”

Dowling said city officials will meet in the next few days to discuss whether North Charleston still wants to send officers to North Myrtle Beach this year.

Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea said city officials have time to consider if the agreement needs to be amended.

“But at this point, there's no indication that the lone officer's actions in any way represent the entire North Charleston Police Department,” Kruea said in an email. “From all appearances, the city of North Charleston has reacted swiftly and appropriately to the evidence. There's no indication that this is a systemic issue for that police force.”

Horry County police spokesman Lt. Raul Denis said he was confident that the U.S. Department of Justice diversity training local officers received in February as well as department policies have properly prepared police for Memorial Day weekend.

“Our position is that we are continuing to improve our relationship with our community,” he said. “I think we are transparent and properly trained. ... Unfortunately bad things happen. We’re lucky it hasn’t happened here.”

Myrtle Beach police spokesman Lt. Joey Crosby said the department was not going to comment on the shooting in North Charleston.

“We’ll let that play out and monitor it,” he said. “We’ll continue to plan for the weekend as we have been.”

Rhodes said the last thing anyone wants is for any type of violent incident to occur on Memorial Day weekend.

“Biker week is a festival that is welcome,” he said. “We ask people to use good judgment – not just the police, but also our visitors. ... We don’t want anybody hurt. We don’t want anybody killed. Because when that happens, nobody wins.”

In North Charleston, police initially released a statement that promised a full investigation but relied largely on Slager’s description of the confrontation, which began with a traffic stop Saturday as Slager pulled Scott over for a faulty brake light.

Slager’s then-attorney, David Aylor, released another statement Monday saying the officer felt threatened and fired because Scott was trying to grab his Taser.

North Charleston police do not wear body cameras, but Mayor Keith Summey said Wednesday he had ordered body cameras to be worn by every single officer on the force.

Every Myrtle Beach officer is equipped with a body camera. North Myrtle Beach has some officers who use body cameras.

Horry County officials have said they like the idea of body cameras but had not purchased them because of lack of funding. Horry County officers have cameras in their patrol cars.

The shooting comes amid a plunge in trust between law enforcement and black men after the officer-involved killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner on Staten Island, N.Y. Nationwide protests intensified after grand juries declined to indict the officers in both cases.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 11:53 PM with the headline "Grand Strand officers put trust in police training for Memorial Day weekend."