Posted on 06/22/2006 11:48:30 AM PDT by Between the Lines
Indictments of judge, police chief renew criticism of tactics.
MCBEE, S.C. - Travelers to Myrtle Beach have long known about McBee, a sleepy Pee Dee crossroads with a reputation as a speed trap.
But recent law enforcement tactics in McBee have sparked a criminal investigation and renewed criticism from local residents.
The state grand jury last week indicted McBee's police chief and town judge on public corruption charges. According to the S.C. Attorney General's Office, the town would drop criminal cases if accused wrongdoers would pay cash or deed over their cars.
Chief Joseph McLemore has since quit the force, and the Town Council has suspended Judge Fred Stephens without pay.
Attempts to reach McLemore were unsuccessful.
Stephens said he has done nothing improper.
Some McBee residents say police have become overzealous during traffic stops along U.S. 1 and S.C. 151, a shortcut from the Charlotte area to Myrtle Beach.
Since McLemore and Stephens were hired about two years ago, McBee police routinely have searched cars, apparently looking for drugs, several former and current town officials say.
The attorney general's office would say little about the investigation in McBee, except that the probe isn't over.
No one interviewed by The State newspaper of Columbia would provide the amount of money or value of cars involved in the alleged deals to drop criminal charges. Town Councilman Dusty Rhoad said the amount was less than $100,000; Rhoad and Mayor Eddie Kirkley said McBee has accounted for all the money or valuables involved.
Kirkley said the uproar in McBee is an extension of long-running disagreements.
Some years ago, McBee officials got into a dispute with a resident over a sign he posted near the city limit to warn motorists about the town's aggressive efforts to stop speeding.
"We have a lot of people in McBee who don't like the police and police officers, no matter who is" in charge, Kirkley said. "This is an unfortunate thing that has happened to two good people."
The recent scandal has stirred plenty of talk in McBee, a Chesterfield County town with an easygoing pace and a link to the coast.
During hot summer days, beach-bound traffic from the Carolina Piedmont streams steadily through town. McBee, (pronounced MAC-Bee), is about 95 miles northwest of Myrtle Beach in the sandy hills of eastern South Carolina.
"This is big conversation," Herbert Outen said as he finished breakfast Monday at the Huddle House. "This was wrong, taking advantage of people out here on Highway No. 1. Honestly, the town needs to pray."
McBee isn't the only town like that. Mayesvills got me once,
their "speed limit" sign was hidden behind a tree.
I hate this little map speck and NEVER have spent one dime there. A bypass would serve them right!
Kilbuck Twp, PA and Summersville, WV also need to be investigated
In Georgia on Interstate 16 between mile markers 46-56 there is continual and forever road construction which is the county's excuse to create a speed trap (no construction actually goes on or if it is this area has had the same construction for over 10-15 years)
Beware of this if you ever cross the state and if you see the sign for the city of Dublin in Georgia know you are close to the area.
Add to the list of speed traps: Saguache, Colorado, on U.S. 285 southwest of Pueblo and on the road down to Durango, N.M.
There should be a speedtrap website for prospective tourists to use.
Check this out.
There is, right here:
http://www.speedtrap.org/index.html
And, it's kept relatively current...
Semper Fi
Every NC boy knows the value of hwy 904. You don't go into SC until 17.
***Some McBee residents say police have become overzealous during traffic stops***
Translation: They were stopping locals along with outsiders.
McBee isn't the only town like that. Mayesvills got me once,
their "speed limit" sign was hidden behind a tree.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
There have been and still are several towns in SC that have made a practice of setting up signs to encourage people to violate the speed limit. I don't know Mayor Kirkley but sadly it is almost certain that he and I are related. I was born and raised in Chesterfield county and I think I am related to every Kirkley in the area, it was my paternal grandmother's maiden name.
Whoooo boy! Now you in a hoe heap of trouble. Cleatus, Boss, and Enos.
Y'know, I drove 321 that way a few times and never saw a cop? Go figure, I guess I got lucky.
There's a stretch of US 301 through northern Florida that's got several speedtrap towns on it. Also watch the US 460 Bypass around Bedford, VA. Nice wide four-lane limited-access road with a 55 mph speed limit...and Bedford County's finest MEAN IT.
}:-)4
Add Lake Providence, Louisian to the speed trap list.
I can't speak of the current situation but back in the sixties McCall, SC had a reputation in many states as a place to avoid. I worked for two years in Bennettsville and even the gun toting toughs didn't like to go to McCall. One young man came into work one day looking like a train wreck and reported that he had stopped in McCall and walked into a joint to get a beer. His description of what happened, "I pushed the door open and the lights went out, I don't know who hit me or what they hit me with". I heard one story of a man who was asked to join in a friendly game of pool and declined politely, explaining that he had never learned to play, reportedly he was set upon by two men and beaten with pool cues for his unwillingness to participate in a game of which he knew nothing. It was considered the worst town in a very bad area. I doubt that age has improved it any.
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