Peter Mercado is the Director of School Safety for Horry County Schools, a position that he has pioneered and held for two years. He came to Horry County Schools after a successful career in public education and public school safety working in the inner-city of New York. His move South have him the opportunity to bring a wealth of experience into an environment where school leaders were only beginning to recognize gang and gang-related activity.

At Horry County Schools, Peter organizes and delivers gang awareness training for administrators, teachers, parents, organizations, and the faith community. He facilitated a safety and security audit of the district’s physical plant and has helped to plan and implement the use of new and additional security tools, such as walk-thru metal detectors, hand-held metal detectors, digital security cameras, and photo-identification background checks for school visitors. He has developed relationships with area law enforcement officers to share information about crime and gang-related activity that involve school communities.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Peter was a gang member during his youth but escaped after realizing the “dead end” of gang membership. He launched into a career of education because of his passion to help at-risk students by providing structure, discipline, safety, and belongingness as an antidote to gangs.

During his career, Peter has negotiated truces between and among gangs in Brooklyn that involved gang–turf wars that resulted in injuries and deaths. As an assistant principal for security, Peter was recruited by principals to take on the most challenging settings and restored those schools to safe learning environments.

Peter has received national training in hurricane preparedness, recovery, and mitigation and is certified as a playground safety inspector. He holds a Master’s Degree in Education from CUNY and holds a certificate in administration and supervision. He has been an assistant principal and English teacher for the New York City Department of Education.