Florence County, S.C. – In August 2022, the Florence County Violent Crime Task Force was set up due to rising crime rates in some parts of the county, as noticed by the sheriff’s office.
This group includes officers from both the sheriff’s department and the Florence Police Department.
Recently, the sheriff’s office shared the task force’s achievements in 2023. Over the last year, they confiscated:
- Marijuana: 13,179 grams
- Cocaine: 141 grams
- Meth: 824.09 grams
- Heroin: 7.27 grams
- Crack: 89.09 grams
- Pills: 419 doses
- Fentanyl: 15.4 grams
- Shrooms: 16 grams
- Guns: 205
- US Currency: $89,192
Additionally, the task force arrested 117 fugitives and looked into almost 600 criminal cases.
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Sheriff TJ Joye of Florence County mentioned that the task force is applying various tactics to combat these crimes, especially in areas with high violent crime rates.
“It can be anywhere from traffic violations to saturating an area we have a lot of trouble with,” said Joye to WMBF. “Whether it’s break-ins, shootings, whatever, we go to those high crime areas.”
About the Florence County Violent Crime Task Force
Sheriff Joye mentioned that his department receives many calls each month from people in the community. They report crimes and other issues that make them feel unsafe, which is exactly what the task force is there to handle.
He explained that the calls are about various problems, like drugs and guns in the neighborhood, people causing disturbances, shooting weapons, loitering on the streets, or anything that scares the residents.
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For 2024, Joye aims to grow the task force and increase patrols throughout Florence County. He hopes to eventually have two task forces to cover both the lower and upper parts of the county simultaneously. While his ideal number is 15 deputies per shift, currently, they manage with 10-12 deputies per shift.
