Downtown Myrtle Beach could get a “24/7/365” police presence if City Council approves a proposal from the city manager to move two units into a new police substation.

City Manager John Pedersen said the dispatch and property evidence units have outgrown the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center that houses most of the police department.

“The building doesn’t lend itself to expansion well,” Pedersen said. “So the hope it is to use the money that we would need to spend anyway to try to expand and instead [acquire new space].”

Business owners and residents have long said they would like increased police presence in the part of downtown Myrtle Beach described as the south mixed-use area, which is defined as the area from First Avenue North to Seventh Avenue North and from the Atlantic Ocean to Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach.