Horry County (SC) Police

Police

Precincts

The county is generally divided into four separate precincts as defined by Horry County Police. Each department may have their own separate zones as they choose. The precinct system divides the county into several areas that each have a set of dedicated talkgroups.

Each precinct (with the exception of the West precinct - see below) has a dispatch talkgroup, an alternate talkgroup, and a talkaround talkgroup.

• Dispatch: The dispatch talkgroup is monitored by a separate radio dispatcher assigned to each precinct's set of talkgroups. By far, the vast majority of all calls are sent over the dispatch talkgroup. All HCPD officers, and most other agencies are equipped with MDCs or mobile computers in their cars. Communications is well aware that their talkgroups are not secure, and will, at times, use the officers MDCs or cell phones to dispatch very high-risk calls.

• Alternate: During in-progress calls or situations where an officer's safety is compromised, a dispatcher will declare "10-3" and instruct all officers to move their traffic from dispatch to the alternate channel. This serves many purposes to the officers in the field and to the dispatcher. After the situation has been stabilized or found not to be an emergency, the dispatcher will lift the 10-3 and officers will move back to the precinct's dispatch channel.

• Talkaround: Talkaround channels are not monitored by dispatch. They are used by officers to communicate between themselves in order to keep the dispatch channel free from excessive traffic. Officers are aware that the radio system is not encrypted, therefore, they will generally use cell phones or MDCs for anything sensitive if possible.

HCPD Precinct Map

The following are the geographic police precincts:

• North: Includes the municipalities of Atlantic Beach, Little River, Longs, and North Myrtle Beach. Located along the northern coast. North Myrtle Beach PD has their own separate set of talkgroups listed in the database.
• South: Includes the municipalities of Carolina Forest, Myrtle Beach, Socastee, and Surfside Beach. Located along the southern coast. Myrtle Beach PD has their own separate set of talkgroups listed in the database.
• Central: Includes the city of Conway. Located in the central portion of Horry County and includes central areas around Conway as far south to the county line, and north to Hwy 22. Conway PD is dispatched on the Central talkgroup, see below.
• West: Dispatched on North talkgroup. Includes the municipalities of Aynor, Galivants Ferry, and Loris. The west precinct is the largest by total land area. Aynor PD, Atlantic Beach PD, and Loris PD are dispatched on the North talkgroup - See below.

Notes about the West talkgroups: Officers in the West precinct use the North talkgroups as their routine dispatch. The West talkgroups are no longer used as a dispatch channel for any precinct. They are, however, used during special events. The west talkgroups (primarily West Dispatch and West Talk) may be used by officers in any part of the county, not just the West precinct. The database does not specify this and the labeling may make it unclear. Several agencies, including Highway Patrol, have been noted to use the West talkgroups for special event usage.

Atlantic Beach Police Department

Atlantic Beach Department is a very small department that serves the Town of Atlantic Beach. Atlantic Beach is located in the North precinct. ABPD units are dispatched on the HCPD North talkgroups (64528) using unit numbers from 925 (chief) to 929.

Atlantic Beach PD has its own set of talkgroups listed in the database, however, given the very small size of the town (about 0.2 sq. mi. or four blocks), it's not expected that they ever see any use, even during special events.

Atlantic Beach has recently seen very drastic changes to the town's governing structure, including its police department, and additional changes are likely due to the state of the town, so changes to unit numbers, hours of operation, etc. are to be expected.

Aynor Police Department

Aynor Police Department is a small department for the Town of Aynor, located in the West precinct. As with the rest of the West precinct, Aynor is dispatched on the North set of talkgroups (64528). Aynor Police uses standard unit call numbers that range from 900 (chief) to 909.

Aynor PD has its own set of talkgroups listed in the database, however are not used. It is reported that they are used during the annual Aynor Harvest Hoedown, however during the 2011 festival, no use was noted on any of the dedicated Aynor Talkgroups. Rather, the communications during the festival took place on the West talkgroups, as noted above.

Aynor PD is a 24/7 full service police department which answers calls for service inside town limits. The Aynor officers very frequently assist HCPD officers around the West precinct, and vice versa, as needed.

Briarcliffe Acres Police Department

Briarcliffe Acres is a tiny, primarily retirement-oriented, community located between North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach along the coast. The police department is very small, consisting only of the Chief. Due to the size, it is impractical that radios be used. Accordingly, the Briarcliffe Acres talkgroups have remained silent.

Conway Police Department

Conway Police Department is a medium sized department that serves areas inside city limits of the City of Conway.

In July 2011, Conway PD consolidated their dispatch with Horry County. They are now dispatched on the HCPD Central Dispatch talkgroup (64016) alongside county units. Conway's unit numbers begin with "C" in the format of Cxxx, where xxx is the officer's badge number. For example: C900, read over the air as "Conway 900" or "C900".

Conway also has its own wiki page here.

Loris Police Department

Loris Police Department is a small department for the Town of Loris, located in the West precinct near the North precinct's western border. As with the rest of the West precinct, Loris is dispatched on the North set of talkgroups (64528).

Loris officers' unit numbers begin with "L" in the format of Lxx, where xx is the officer's badge number. Unit numbers in the L50 to L60 range have been noted. Loris is a smaller department and only has a handful of officers. Example: L51, read over the air as "Loris 51" or "L51".

Loris PD has its own set of talkgroups listed in the database, however are no longer used as of Summer 2012. It's unclear if these will be used for special events or other purposes.

Other Local Police Departments

For information on Aynor, Atlantic Beach, Briarcliffe Acres, Loris, or Conway PDs, please see above. Other departments, including Coastal Carolina University DPS, Myrtle Beach Police Department, North Myrtle Beach Public Safety, Surfside Beach, and possibly others operate on their own set of talkgroups. Please see the database page for a full listing of each department's set of talkgroups.

Police Unit Numbers

The following is a summary of badge numbers used by HCPD and several other area agencies. HCPD badge numbers are not confirmed. If you have corrections to be made, feel free to edit this page or post to the South Carolina forum.

• 100-350: HCPD Supervisors
• 350-699: HCPD Patrol Officers
• 900-909: Aynor Police - Dispatched on HCPD North talkgroup. See above.
• 925-929: Atlantic Beach Police - Dispatched on HCPD North talkgroup. See above.
• B xx: Briarcliffe Acres Police - Units beginning with the letter B are Briarcliffe Acres Police units. See above.
• C xxx: Conway Police - Units beginning with the letter C are Conway Police units. Conway PD is dispatched on the HCPD Central talkgroup. See above.
• L xx: Loris Police - Units beginning with the letter L are Loris Police units. Loris PD is dispatched on the HCPD North talkgroup. See above.

Radio ID's

Radio ID's for the HCPD generally match up with the unit callsign, so Unit 652, his Radio ID would 50652, and most Admin on the HCPD Admin TG can have a 2- digit or 3- digit Radio Id, EX. 25,59 etc.

Horry County Sheriff's Office

Horry County Sheriff's Office's (HCSO) operations are unique to the area. HCSO is not the primary call-responsive agency in the unincorporated areas of the county. This is a unique situation in the state. Horry County is the only county which has a county-wide police department and Sheriff's Office. Horry County Police Department is tasked with answering the vast majority of calls for service. HCSO deputies may, however, respond to calls for service, perform proactive policing, etc. at their discretion.

HCSO is responsible for all criminal warrants in unincorporated areas of the county, and routinely serves all warrants from minor offenses to high-risk searches and arrests. Deputies are also assigned to serve civil or family court papers. HCSO also operates the J. Reuben Long Detention Center (which has its own dedicated talkgroup - 304 - for internal operations) and the Horry County Government & Justice Center.

Deputies that are serving warrants or papers or patrolling use the HCPD talkgroup for the area they are assigned. Deputies assigned in the South precinct will use the South talkgroups, deputies assigned to the Central precinct will use the Central talkgroups, and those assigned to the North or West precinct will use the North talkgroup. Deputies that are performing in-county or in-state inmate transport have their own talkgroup on the statewide Palmetto 800 system - analog talkgroup 50864 - which sees regular use as the prisoner transport van makes rounds multiple times a day to smaller jails in the county.

Deputies generally appear to be assigned lower badge numbers (in the 1xx range). Deputies will occasionally identify as "Sheriff 1xx" or "Horry County 1xx".

The county jail (J. Reuben Long Detention Center - known as J. Reuben, JRL, HCDC, Horry County Detention Center, etc. on the radio) has its own talkgroup for their internal corrections operations - talkgroup 304. Horry County Government & Justice Center (courthouse) likely separate radio system for their own internal use.

Police 10-Codes

The following 10-codes are used by police departments across the county. Highway Patrol uses a separate set of 10-codes.

Code	Description	Code	Description
10-0	Use caution	10-1	Signal weak
10-2	Signal good	10-3	Stop transmitting
10-4	Message received	10-5	Relay
10-6	Busy	10-7	Out of service
10-8	In service	10-9	Repeat
10-10	Fight in progress	10-11	Animal
10-12	Stand by	10-13	Weather report
10-14	Prowler	10-15	Disturbance
10-16	Domestic disturbance	10-17	Complainant
10-18	Complete ASAP	10-19	Return to __________
10-20	Advise location	10-21	Call by phone, Phone number
10-22	Disregard	10-23	Arrived at scene
10-24	Assignment complete	10-25	Meet up at _______
10-26	Larceny	10-27	Driver's license information
10-28	Vehicle registration information	10-29	Check warrants
10-30	Unauthorized use of radio	10-31	Crime in progress
10-32	Person with gun	10-33	Officer Emergency
10-34	Riot	10-35	Shots fired
10-36	Correct time	10-37	Suspicious vehicle/person
10-38	Traffic stop	10-39	Attempt to locate
10-41	Begin shift	10-42	End shift
10-43	Information	10-45	Dead animal
10-46	Assist motorist	10-50	Traffic accident
10-51	Tow truck	10-52	Ambulance
10-55	Intoxicated driver	10-56	Intoxicated person
10-57	Hit and run accident	10-58	Direct traffic
10-59	Escort	10-65	Drug activity
10-67	Kidnapping	10-68	Missing person
10-70	Fire-related call	10-74	Negative
10-75	Indecent exposure	10-76	Unit en route
10-77	Estimated time of arrival	10-79	Notify coroner
10-80	Pursuit in progress	10-81	Breathalyzer operator needed
10-82	Rape	10-84	Assault
10-85	Armed assault	10-89	Bomb threat
10-90	Alarm	10-91	Transport prisoner
10-92	Improperly parked vehicle	10-93	Blocked roadway
10-94	Drag racing	10-95	Suspect in custody
10-96	Mental subject	10-97	Breech of trust
10-99	Stolen vehicle

Police Signal/Codes

Horry County Police dispatch will provide suspension codes to officers making traffic stops or requesting a records check. HCPD, as well as many other departments in the state, uses the highway patrol suspension codes.

Signal	Description	Code	Description
Signal 3	Driving Under Suspension	Code D	Detective referral
Signal 4	Armed robbery, business or person	Code G	Gone upon arrival
Signal 12	No information	Code N	No report
Signal 15	Out of car, radio on	Code R	Report made
Signal 17	Radio check	Code T	Ticket issued
Signal 28	Visitors present, or is radio secure to copy information	Code W	Warrant
Code WT	Warning ticket issued	Signal 31	Meal break
Code Z	Unfounded

Links

• Horry County Police - Official website for Horry County Police Department. This website has a map of sectors and precincts and other information.