TASK FORCE WILL FIGHT NARCOTICS IN HORRY

County, Cities Join Under Single Team

Horry County law-enforcement officials say that, at a time when the drug
trade is becoming increasingly more high tech and organized, a newly formed
regional narcotics task force will help them go after drug dealers and
their operations more efficiently.

"We're going to remove the geographical advantages that drug dealers have,"
said 15th Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree, the man largely credited with
bringing together the six departments that make up what will be known as
the 15th Circuit Drug Enforcement Unit.

Leaders of the project are expected to sign a formal agreement before they
publicly announce plans for the unit Thursday.

Under the agreement, drug investigators from Conway, Surfside Beach, North
Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Horry County Police Department and Horry County
Sheriff's Office will team up to enforce drug laws beyond their borders.
Currently, police must stop at their city or county limits.

The task force officers will be able to make raids across the county, and
the agencies would split money seized no matter where the busts happen.

The fledgling unit in Horry County is modeled after the York County
Multijurisdictional Enforcement Unit, which has been around since 1998.
Cmdr. Marvin Brown said that force has 24 drug agents and three prosecutors
dedicated to fighting drugs in eight York County communities.

As a result, violent crimes such as armed robberies are down, and
neighborhoods once overrun by drugs now are filled with children on the
playgrounds, Brown said.

"All the information from the eight agencies is funneled to one unit, and
you don't have the territorial aspect where the guys horde all the
information," Brown said. "We put our forces together, and it's like a
small army."

In Horry County, the chiefs from each department along with Hembree and
Clyde Merryman, a former senior FBI agent who is experienced in working
with drug units and now serves as Surfside Beach town administrator, will
sit on the board of directors.

During a meeting earlier this month, the seven-member panel began crafting
the language for the agreement and mostly discussed organizational matters.
Chief Sam Hendricks of the Conway Police Department said the county drug
team will put all the participating drug agents on the same page.

"If there are any territorial differences, it wipes that out and we're all
working in the same direction for the same goal," Hendricks said. "The
citizens of Horry County are going to benefit because law enforcement will
identify more players in the drug market and take them off the streets."

Paul Butler, chief deputy with the Sheriff's Office, said he expects the
force to be successful.

"When you're here to serve the public, that sharing of information,
resources, commitment and dedication is key," he said.

Sgt. Carmen Burke of Surfside Beach Public Safety said: "Any time we can
work with another department in sharing equipment, personnel and especially
the brains, that is important when you're so small."

The first major task for the board will be to conduct a search for a unit
commander.

Including benefits, that person will earn about $50,900 annually, Hembree said.

The group also will develop specific policies and procedures, he said.

So far, the drug task force has been awarded about $105,088 in grants from
the state and county, Hembree said.

The task force will be launched with 10 to 15 officers, and expand over
three years to between 35 and 40 members, said Bert von Herrmann, first
assistant solicitor.

"We ultimately expect in the next three years that every narcotics officer
assigned to individual departments will be assigned to this task force," he
said, adding that they expect to receive about $700,000 in county and state
grants over the three-year span.

"If we affect the drug trade in general, we can affect every other crime,
particularly violent crime, in Horry County."

Almost two years ago, it was Merryman who during a meeting of the
Horry-Georgetown Law Enforcement Executives Association talked to the
chiefs about the regional drug task force. After the presentation, Hembree
ran with the concept.

"While we have different tentacles, it's the same operation and you get the
low-level drug dealer and the biggest people transporting or financing
drugs," Merryman said. "If you want impact, this is the only way to do it.
You have superb people, and all Greg wants to do is to have them work more
cohesively and take on bigger targets and reduce the real flow of drugs in
the area."

Information-sharing and teamwork are key to making the group work, Brown said.

"We all work together in a concerted effort, and we pride ourselves on our
cooperation," he said.

Because the 15th Judicial Circuit includes both Horry and Georgetown
counties, there was hope that the latter would be part of the drug team.

However, Sgt. Kelvin Waites of the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office said
the county and city departments already have their own drug task force,
called the Georgetown Organized Crime Bureau.

"It's been very successful for us, and that's the position we're in," he
said about the unit that has been in existence since May 2001.

"The chief and sheriff thought if we combined our efforts we could do a
better job countywide."

Von Herrmann said the task force is needed to keep up with the drug trade.

"For a long time, we were doing the same thing and expecting different
results," he said.