Annual crime report shows where Grand Strand, Pee Dee counties rank
MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - While some areas of the state showed drastic improvement in public safety, others saw quite the opposite.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division released its annual crime report on Friday, with data compiled from 2024.
Chief Mark Keel with SLED said in a news release that he remains “very concerned” with the amount of violent gun crimes committed by young people. 41% of the 9,612 offenders arrested for weapon law violations were under the age of 25.
The numbers show that Georgetown County showed the fourth-highest decrease in violent crime rates in the state last year, dropping by 26.65%.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver told WMBF News the community played a pivotal role in lowering that number, and so did staying transparent with them.
“Our neighborhoods interact with my sheriff’s office, and we interact with them,” Weaver said. “So that does nothing but breed harmony, and it helps in reducing numbers such as violent crime rates, but again, I’d like to see more than just one year.”
Dillon County had the highest rate of violent crimes in 2024, according to SLED’s data. The data shows that Marlboro and Marion counties were also ranked within the top five counties with the highest violent crime rates.
As a whole, the state of South Carolina’s crime rates dropped for murder, sexual battery, robbery and aggravated assault from 2023 to 2024, the data shows.
When it comes to property crime rates, the data shows Darlington and Dillon counties placed within the top five in the state.
South Carolina’s property crime rates dropped in the following categories between 2023 and 2024: burglary, larceny, arson and motor vehicle theft.
HORRY COUNTY ARREST NUMBERS
A look at Horry County’s notable numbers from this year’s SLED report.
The data shows a slight increase in murder and nonnegligent manslaughter arrests across the county, going from 15 in 2023 to 16 in 2024.
Aggravated assault arrests in the county dropped by nine, the report shows, going from 469 in 2023 to 460 in 2024.
The county also saw arson charges cut almost in half, going from 20 in 2023 to 11 in 2024, according to the report.
Click HERE for the full report.
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