WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce is paving the way this summer.
They just launched a new crime prevention program for local businesses in Lexington County. It's similar to a neighborhood watch program.
The program, called "Business Watch," is a partnership between Cayce and West Columbia police departments, the Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce and local businesses.
West Columbia Police Chief Marion Boyce tells News 19 it's designed to reduce crime, streamline communication, enhance community relationships and educate local businesses.
In partnership with the chamber, this is the first-of-its-kind in the state of South Carolina, according to chief Boyce.
"For example, if there was a suspicious person on business owner x's property, I usually see that on a Facebook post or a social media aspect, but it doesn't necessarily get reported to the police department," Boyce said.
The program is open to anyone and at no cost to local businesses. You don't need to be a member of the chamber. These local leaders explain that they believe sharing resources can help in the long run.
"It came out today one of the businesses in attendance does a lot of security camera stuff. Well, if we've got businesses that aren't sure about security cameras, we've already got an in-house resource that we can plug them into and a local resource at that," Boyce said.
The first meeting took place Monday and more meetings to get the program fully operational are in the works.
The Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber says applications will be available for interested businesses to fill out on its website starting Tuesday.