Post by seaside on Oct 11, 2008 21:12:33 GMT -6
Here's a copy of what the Sun News published on July 30, 2008.
Horry releases report on bike rallies
July 30, 2008
Source: Myrtle Beach Sun News
By Mike Cherney
mcherney@thesunnews.com
Horry County spent $330,000 on police overtime and other public safety expenses during the May motorcycle rallies, and vendor permits brought in $340,000 in revenues, according to a report released today by the county’s public safety department.
During the Harley Davidson spring rally, from May 9 to May 18, the report estimated that between 225,000 and 275,000 people attended. During the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, from May 22 to May 26, between 250,000 and 275,000 people showed up.
The report also made recommendations on how to improve the county’s police coverage of the rallies, such as better coordination with other law enforcement agencies, staffing some police cars with two officers and improving maintenance of road message signs.
The report showed that of the 150 people injured in motorcycle accidents during the Harley Davidson spring rally, only 15 percent of them wore a helmet. During the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, only 5 percent of the 128 injured bikers wore helmets.
“It’s not to say we should or should not have biker events,” Paul Whitten, the county’s public safety director, said of the report. “It’s a document of what we did well and what we didn’t do well and what we need to change for next year.”
Earlier this year, Myrtle Beach passed a property tax increase to fund efforts aimed at eliminating the May bike rallies, and groups favoring and opposing the rallies have attended government meetings recently to drum up support for their cause.
Suggestions to tame the events have included shortening the rallies, moving them from May to another month, eliminating or reducing vendor permits that are issued or raising the price of the permits, which currently cost about $800 per vendor.
Whitten said the county’s extra police costs are funded with proceeds from the local accommodations tax, an additional charge tagged to hotel room stays. Vendor permit proceeds are added to the county’s general operating budget.
Still, Whitten cautioned the financial information does not take into account the lost productivity the department suffers as officers spend their regular work hours policing the bike rally events instead of conducting normal duties.
The figures also do not include a higher-than-anticipated fuel cost from the county’s zone-policing strategy, where officers patrolled sectors for the bike rallies. In previous years, officers were assigned to more specific areas and did not drive around as much.
Whitten said the fluctuating price of fuel made it difficult to estimate how much extra the county spent compared to past years, although he said the extra fuel probably cost about $6,000.
Still, Councilman Bob Grabowski said the report shows that the bike rallies largely pay for themselves, at least from county government's point of view. He said the report should eliminate the false notion that the rallies cost the county more than they bring in.
Myrtle Beach released similar financial statistics earlier this summer. The rallies cost the city $280,000 in overtime costs, with most of the overtime going for police officers. All vendor permits are collected by the county, so the city did not receive any revenue.
Still, the city recovers more than the price of its overtime through the accommodations tax during the year, although those dollars are not used specifically to cover law enforcement costs during the rallies, said Mark Kruea, the city spokesman.
During the first weekend in May when there was no bike rally, the county’s 911 dispatch center received 4,382 calls, the report said. That number jumped to 4,907 calls during the final Harley Davidson weekend and to 6,929 during the Atlantic Beach Bikefest weekend.
Whitten said county police wrote about 300 tickets for noise-related violations during the rallies, although most of the citations were for improper starting and stopping or equipment violations. It's easier to compel out-of-state residents to pay those fines than if they were ticketed with noise violations, Whitten said.
But Councilman Brent Schulz, who represents northern sections of Myrtle Beach, said he thought police should be writing more than 300 tickets for noise issues if hundreds of thousands of bikers attend the rallies. Many of his constituents complain about noise, he said.
"You do the math," he said. "Something's not right."
The report also determined that areas within a half of a mile of seven popular biker venues did not receive a higher proportion of 911 calls than other areas during the Harley Davidson bike rally, Whitten said.
Recommendations include working closer with the S.C. Highway Patrol. On several occasions, Whitten said county police officers were assigned to patrol in an area that was already covered by the highway patrol.
The report said the county should also work with other law enforcement agencies to set up traffic checkpoints, something the county police did not do this year. It also said the county should request to use drug-detection canine units from other agencies.
This year, Whitten said one officer was assigned to each police car. But since some incidents require two officers to respond, the report suggested assigning two officers to some police cars – eliminating the wait time for the first officer to receive back up.
Whitten also said the county needs to plan better to maintain two portable, electronic message signs that can be placed alongside the side of a road. Whitten said the gasoline-powered generators for the signs nearly ran out because they were not refilled on time.
During the Harley Davidson spring rally, county officers wrote more than 2,300 citations, more than double from 2007, the report said. About 1,500 citations were issued during the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, also more than double than in 2007. Four people were killed in accidents during the 2008 rallies.
Horry releases report on bike rallies
July 30, 2008
Source: Myrtle Beach Sun News
By Mike Cherney
mcherney@thesunnews.com
Horry County spent $330,000 on police overtime and other public safety expenses during the May motorcycle rallies, and vendor permits brought in $340,000 in revenues, according to a report released today by the county’s public safety department.
During the Harley Davidson spring rally, from May 9 to May 18, the report estimated that between 225,000 and 275,000 people attended. During the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, from May 22 to May 26, between 250,000 and 275,000 people showed up.
The report also made recommendations on how to improve the county’s police coverage of the rallies, such as better coordination with other law enforcement agencies, staffing some police cars with two officers and improving maintenance of road message signs.
The report showed that of the 150 people injured in motorcycle accidents during the Harley Davidson spring rally, only 15 percent of them wore a helmet. During the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, only 5 percent of the 128 injured bikers wore helmets.
“It’s not to say we should or should not have biker events,” Paul Whitten, the county’s public safety director, said of the report. “It’s a document of what we did well and what we didn’t do well and what we need to change for next year.”
Earlier this year, Myrtle Beach passed a property tax increase to fund efforts aimed at eliminating the May bike rallies, and groups favoring and opposing the rallies have attended government meetings recently to drum up support for their cause.
Suggestions to tame the events have included shortening the rallies, moving them from May to another month, eliminating or reducing vendor permits that are issued or raising the price of the permits, which currently cost about $800 per vendor.
Whitten said the county’s extra police costs are funded with proceeds from the local accommodations tax, an additional charge tagged to hotel room stays. Vendor permit proceeds are added to the county’s general operating budget.
Still, Whitten cautioned the financial information does not take into account the lost productivity the department suffers as officers spend their regular work hours policing the bike rally events instead of conducting normal duties.
The figures also do not include a higher-than-anticipated fuel cost from the county’s zone-policing strategy, where officers patrolled sectors for the bike rallies. In previous years, officers were assigned to more specific areas and did not drive around as much.
Whitten said the fluctuating price of fuel made it difficult to estimate how much extra the county spent compared to past years, although he said the extra fuel probably cost about $6,000.
Still, Councilman Bob Grabowski said the report shows that the bike rallies largely pay for themselves, at least from county government's point of view. He said the report should eliminate the false notion that the rallies cost the county more than they bring in.
Myrtle Beach released similar financial statistics earlier this summer. The rallies cost the city $280,000 in overtime costs, with most of the overtime going for police officers. All vendor permits are collected by the county, so the city did not receive any revenue.
Still, the city recovers more than the price of its overtime through the accommodations tax during the year, although those dollars are not used specifically to cover law enforcement costs during the rallies, said Mark Kruea, the city spokesman.
During the first weekend in May when there was no bike rally, the county’s 911 dispatch center received 4,382 calls, the report said. That number jumped to 4,907 calls during the final Harley Davidson weekend and to 6,929 during the Atlantic Beach Bikefest weekend.
Whitten said county police wrote about 300 tickets for noise-related violations during the rallies, although most of the citations were for improper starting and stopping or equipment violations. It's easier to compel out-of-state residents to pay those fines than if they were ticketed with noise violations, Whitten said.
But Councilman Brent Schulz, who represents northern sections of Myrtle Beach, said he thought police should be writing more than 300 tickets for noise issues if hundreds of thousands of bikers attend the rallies. Many of his constituents complain about noise, he said.
"You do the math," he said. "Something's not right."
The report also determined that areas within a half of a mile of seven popular biker venues did not receive a higher proportion of 911 calls than other areas during the Harley Davidson bike rally, Whitten said.
Recommendations include working closer with the S.C. Highway Patrol. On several occasions, Whitten said county police officers were assigned to patrol in an area that was already covered by the highway patrol.
The report said the county should also work with other law enforcement agencies to set up traffic checkpoints, something the county police did not do this year. It also said the county should request to use drug-detection canine units from other agencies.
This year, Whitten said one officer was assigned to each police car. But since some incidents require two officers to respond, the report suggested assigning two officers to some police cars – eliminating the wait time for the first officer to receive back up.
Whitten also said the county needs to plan better to maintain two portable, electronic message signs that can be placed alongside the side of a road. Whitten said the gasoline-powered generators for the signs nearly ran out because they were not refilled on time.
During the Harley Davidson spring rally, county officers wrote more than 2,300 citations, more than double from 2007, the report said. About 1,500 citations were issued during the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, also more than double than in 2007. Four people were killed in accidents during the 2008 rallies.