How Horry County Police Department Uses D4H to Adapt on the Fly

About the Horry County Police Department

The Horry County Police Department is located in South Carolina, USA. Horry County is a large coastal area spanning 1,100 square miles, it is a diverse county with both urban and rural areas. Being in a hurricane-prone zone, Horry County has experienced many hurricanes over the past decade. Horry County is a popular vacation destination, renowned for its coastal landscape and Myrtle Beach. The influx of tourists during the summer requires the Horry County Police Department to prepare for numerous large-scale events.

How the Horry County Police Department uses D4H to adapt to changing scenarios

Horry County holds lots of festivals year-round, a single festival can attract up to one million visitors. The police department must coordinate assignments for its approximately 400 officers. The police department uses D4H Incident Management to plan accordingly for each festival held by the county. Following the event the team uses D4H to do an ARR (After Action Report) to review and prepare for the event the following year.

One of the most important features of D4H for the Horry County Police is its ability to make real-time changes on the Incident Dashboard during events. For example, during the county's Harley Rally two years ago, when Captain Justin Wyatt had to swap out some personnel at the last minute, he was able to make the edits to an active incident, which were immediately visible to all Horry County D4H users, including command personnel all while the rally was in progress.

"What's nice is I'm able to do it on the fly. I don't have to be at an office. I don't have to be at a command post. I was on the tailgate of my truck doing it. It worked just as easy."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

The police department also uses D4H to prepare for daily operations within their narcotics and detective divisions. Each operation is documented in the incident management system and assigned a unique file number for the team to build upon. As much information as the team needs can be added to a particular incident within D4H to help streamline team visibility, including; suspect information, search warrants, and arrest warrants.

"When we're ready to move on an a particular operation, it's all there in D4H, and everyone involved can see it. If it's not locked they can add to it and then once finalized myself and my boss will lock the form and it cannot be edited."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

How the Horry County Police Department prepares for an operation with D4H

The Horry County Police Department has developed custom operation forms within D4H Incident Management for rapid-response incidents, including arrests within 24 hours. They have implemented pre-made forms to guarantee immediate access to all necessary resources for special operations. Each police officer has clear visibility of locations and briefing times. A significant advantage for the department has been the capability to incorporate visuals; using D4H, the team can display the operation's building location and clearly mark primary breach points and all access routes.

These forms are utilized during the team briefing before the operation to ensure that all team members are adequately prepared with the correct equipment. They also streamline communication and preparation within the team.

"Everybody that's going to go to this house to execute the search warrant sees this or has access to it. And this is how we brief, we talk about the evacuation protocol, which operation and which equipment we need."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

The police department utilizes both the desktop and mobile app versions of D4H, whether at their desks or on the move to an incident.

"We can review it and edit it on our cellphones and that is huge for us because you don't have to open up a laptop, you don't have to try and find internet service, all you have to do is have cell service and you're in the app and you can see and do everything like you are on a laptop."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

The Horry County Police Department leverages D4H's highly customizable interface to effectively manage its fast-paced and dynamic operations. They also benefit from its user-friendly interface.

"We're not programmers, we're not IT people, and we're able to add, subtract and build forms. D4H is really user-friendly. With a minuscule amount of training you can figure it out"

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

How Horry County PD managed incidents before D4H

Before adopting D4H almost ten years ago, the Horry County Police Department managed their incidents using a combination of Excel spreadsheets and pen-and-paper methods. This approach created additional work and inefficiencies for the team, including the need to obtain physical signatures to activate an operation.

"D4H absolutely was a game-changer for us because of how we went from Excel spreadsheets and handwritten ICS paperwork to it's all computerized."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

Additionally, the police department benefits from D4H's customer support for their operations whenever necessary.

"The customer service support truly is what separates y'all. On top of the amazing user-friendly software, but being able to reach out at any given time, it’s super easy."

— Captain Justin Wyatt, Horry County Police Department

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