Fraud on the rise again in Beaufort County last year
Police across Beaufort County reported 4,951 arrests in 2024, the highest yearly number so far in the 2020s.
The higher numbers were driven by increased arrests for crimes like fraud, driving under the influence, drug and liquor law violations and trespassing.
This data comes from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s 2024 crime report, which was released Dec. 5. Statewide, violent crime dropped by 8.4% from 2023 to 2024, the agency found, marking the fourth year in a row of decreases.
Fraud
Fraud cases continued their upward trend in Beaufort County, where an aging population is vulnerable to schemes involving credit card fraud, identity theft, online scams and impersonation. Local police reported just over 600 occurrences in 2021 and nearly 800 in 2024. Mirroring nationwide trends, fraud clearance rates remained one of the lowest out of all offense types in Beaufort County. Only 11% of the 787 reported cases in 2024 ended in an arrest or other resolution, according to the SLED data.
Arrests for driving under the influence also increased, spiking by nearly 73% from 103 in 2023 to 178 in 2024. Robbery was down to 46 reports, a 19% decrease from its 2021 high of 51 reports; the clearance rate rose to 41%, its highest so far this decade.
Other offenses with rising arrest numbers included liquor law violations — 228 in 2023 to 291 in 2024 — and resisting arrest instances, which increased from 51 in 2023 to 70 in 2024.
Offenses involving illegal drugs, most commonly marijuana, also see increases almost yearly. Beaufort County police reported 1,144 drug cases in 2024, with a 68% clearance rate that’s on pace with previous years.
Violent crime
Murders in 2024 edged up to the county’s recent peak in 2023, the deadliest year for local gun violence in recent memory. There were 18 reported murders in 2024, and 19 in 2023, a jump from nine the year before. The year’s clearance rate for murder was 67%, the highest so far in the 2020s. There were 16 arrests for murder or nonnegligent manslaughter in 2024, a 28% increase from 6 in 2023.
Forcible fondling arrests saw a similar increase of 73.3%, from 15 in 2023 to 26 in 2024. But the crime of sexual battery, with 58 reported occurrences last year, saw its clearance rate dip from 35% in 2023 to 16% in 2024. That’s the second-lowest arrest rate so far this decade, second to 15% in 2021.
In the broad category of weapon law violations, instances decreased from 290 in 2023 to 271 last year. This crime include the illegal manufacturing, possession or use of weapons. Statewide, about 67% of these violations involved firearms, according to SLED. They include the offense of illegally converting a handgun to a semi-automatic weapon, cases that Beaufort County officials say are on the rise.
