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When Black bikers roll into the Myrtle Beach area over Memorial Day weekend, it has been suggested that an increase in crime comes in with them.
Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, also known as Black Bike Week, is one of two motorcycle rallies in May. Spring Bike Rally, which just wrapped up on May 19, 2024, happens for 10 days, while Black Bike Week happens Memorial Day weekend.
But with the two rallies, do police respond to more calls at one than the other?
The Sun News requested the number of police calls made during the two motorcycle rallies during 2022 and 2023 by Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Horry County police departments using a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Sun News was unable to get the number of calls during that time from Horry County. It would have cost $200 to receive that information, according to Horry County FOIA manager Aaron Spelbring.
There were more police calls made per day during the Atlantic Beach Bike Fest than during the Spring Bike Rally in both 2022 and 2023, according to the numbers from Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach. But there are a few explanations as to why.
While one motorcycle rally did receive more police calls than the other, that does not automatically mean there is more crime. In addition, calls for police service does not mean that a crime was committed. Police could have been called for something as serious as a shooting or as minor as someone was being too loud.
Many of the Spring Bike Rally motorcyclists congregate in unincorporated Horry County near Murrells Inlet, while Black Bike Week attendees spend time in North Myrtle Beach.
Black Bike Week is during Memorial Day weekend, May 24 through May 27, which is the start of the summer season along the Grand Strand and there are many more people than just bikers coming into the area. The Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally is held over the course of 10 days — in 2024, it ran from May 10 through May 19 — so attendees may be more spread out and not congregated the same way.
Some people on social media have suggested that there’s more crime or police calls made during Black Bike Week. There have also been problems with Myrtle Beach’s police strategies during the Memorial Day weekend motorcycle rally.
Myrtle Beach NAACP president Tiffany Andrews said people’s unconscious biases, or implicit biases or stereotypes can lead them to call police.
“There is an unconscious bias and that is not just in Myrtle Beach, not just in South Carolina, but in America,” Andrews said. “There is an unconscious bias when it comes to calls that come into any police station.”
While it is unclear how many motorcyclists and attendees are at each rally, it is know that the rallies draw thousands to the Myrtle Beach area. Police presence is high at both, but in past years, more police tend to be at Black Bike Week than other rallies.
Horry County Public Safety decides how many police officers to send out based on several factors, including anticipated attendance, expected hotel occupancy rate, the number of calls for service made the previous year and the amount of traffic based on numbers from South Carolina Department of Transportation, South Carolina Department of Public Safety, and license plate readers, said Horry County Police spokesperson Mikayla Moskov.
How many calls were made in previous years?
Myrtle Beach:
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2022 Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally, May 13 through May 22: 3,761 calls, average is 376 a day (over 10 days)
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2022 Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, May 27 through May 30: 2,241 calls, average is 560 a day (over four days)
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2023 Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally, May 12 through May 21: 3,491 calls, average is 349 a day (over 10 days)
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2023 Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, May 26 through May 29: 2,109 calls, average is 527 a day (over four days).
North Myrtle Beach:
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2022 Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally, May 13 through May 22: 1,157 calls, average is 116 a day (over 10 days)
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2022 Atlantic Beach Bike Fest, May 27 through May 30: 1,152 calls, average is 288 a day (over four days)
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2023 Myrtle Beach Spring Bike Rally, May 12 through 22: 1,379 calls, average is 125 a day (over 11 days)
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2023 Atlantic Beach Spring Bike Rally, May 26 through May 29: 1,020 calls, average is 255 a day (over four days).
Myrtle Beach’s lawsuit for over-policing
The city of Myrtle Beach has faced off with the NAACP in court over the number of officers Myrtle Beach has during Black Bike Week. The civil rights group filed a lawsuit against the city alleging racial discrimination in 2018, The Sun News reported.
The NAACP said Myrtle Beach used additional police and a traffic detour during Memorial Day weekend, which is when Black Bike Week is held, to deter Black riders from coming to Myrtle Beach.
In 2020, a split federal jury ruled that Myrtle Beach was guilty of racial discrimination, but the city also would have eventually started using these tactics even if race wasn’t a factor. Myrtle Beach paid a $50,000 settlement to the NAACP.
Source Agencies
