Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson said everywhere he goes lately folks are asking his opinion about the possibility of a merger between the sheriff department and the Horry County Police Department.
At a recent Horry County Council meeting, a parade of speakers implored the council to do away with the county police department as it exists now and put it in under control of the elected sheriff. They cited recent controversies involving county police officers as the main reasons.
Horry County is the only county in South Carolina with a separate police department. Charleston County was the last to merge its two departments in 1991…