In May, the Town of Timmonsville cut its police department to save money, and now residents say criminals have taken that as an open invitation to move in.
Some residents say it's just not safe to walk the streets anymore - especially at night.
"I'm angry and I'm scared. I'm scared for our citizens who go out at night," said Janice Pigate.
Mark Register owns the Napa Auto Parts store in town. Last weekend, he said, burglars used a brick to knock the glass out of his entrance. They didn't take anything, but they caused about $1,000 in damages to the door and the snack machine.
"The same night they got me, they got two or three other places," Register said.
Concerned residents attended a town council meeting Tuesday night to express their frustration.
"We need a police department," said resident Libby King. "We need more - or else do away with our town charter."
When the Timmonsville Police Department was dissolved, the town asked the Florence County Sheriff's Office to take over.
NewsChannel 15 filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Florence County Sheriff's Office to find out how many times they've responded to calls in Timmonsville following the closing of the police department.
Captain Michael Nunn says deputies have responded to Timmonsville nearly 700 times since May.
Another incident involved a burglary at the town's former police department in August. Deputies think three men stole numerous police department weapons, tazers and weapons from the evidence room.
A safe containing certain municipal court records was stolen as well as an undetermined amount of money.
"Since May of this year, we've not been able to add deputies to reduce our call response time," Nunn explained. "The sheriff's office has 880 square miles of county to patrol and respond to and obviously Timmonsville is a part of that, and it's a part of our obligation."
Mark Register said he's not blaming the sheriff's office.
"I really feel that the sheriff's department can't cover 900 miles with the amount of guys they got. And I really don't think it's their place to have to cover us all the time, but I really think we really need to put another police department back in force," said Register.
Timmonville Mayor Darrick Jackson says things aren't that bad and some are just out to paint a negative picture. He says it's just not in their budget at this point to bring back the police department.
"We were spending $500,000 a year on a department that wasn't supporting," Jackson explained. "We were taking money from the department of water and sewer which let our department go lacking. So, what we're trying to do is cut down the debt and we will come back and revisit the police department."
Jackson ask everyone to be patient and give them time to get their finances back on track. He says they're doing better than they expected. He praises the Florence County Sheriff's Officer for their committment to serve the people of Timmonsville.
