SC Public Safety Department Ending Cross-Training

Nov. 11—North Myrtle Beach is ending its long-held practice of cross-training firefighters and police officers, which could save the city almost $600,000 a year, officials say.

City Manager Mike Mahaney said Wednesday data showed the city doesn't rely as heavily on cross-trained first responders as it did before, according to a Facebook post.

This year, cross-trained police officers responded to three out of 3,570 fire incidents, and cross-trained firefighters responded to six police calls out of 19,211, according to city data shared at a council workshop.

The city spends an average of $500,000 every year on overtime pay for required training dual-role certifications and roughly $100,000 a year on new uniforms and equipment.

The move will not cost the city any additional money, according to the post. Officials will discuss how the savings will be allocated during the city council's fiscal year 2023 budget retreat in the spring.

"Some of us are made to be firefighters, and some of us are made to be police officers," Fire Chief Garry Spain told WBTW. "And with this separation, now we're going to be pulling from a bigger pool of individuals."

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