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WHY HAVE A MOUNTED UNIT?
Why should
a large metropolitan city have a horse mounted unit? First of
all, let’s explain the job of a mounted officer is the same as those
officers working in a beat car, motorcycle or any other uniformed
officer. They
are there to help the citizens of the city they serve by enforcing the
laws to protect the citizens of their city.
Those situations may entail, but are not limited to:
- taking
reports
- writing
citations,
- directing
traffic
- answering
calls for service
- and
generally assisting the citizens of the city.
All
of these situations a mounted officer can handle. However, being
in a job specific assignment such as a mounted officer, there are other
responsibilities that go along with that assignment. Naturally,
the care of their assigned mount, including:
- grooming,
- health
care,
- and
on-going training.
A
good mounted officer will see to the needs of his mount prior to his
own. A well prepared mounted officer will see that his uniform
and equipment are in proper order, along with his tack for his mount, bit,
bridle, saddle. This will present an image for the citizens to
see as not only as a representative of the police department, but an
“Ambassador of Goodwill” always leaving a positive influence on those
they may contact as a representative of the mounted unit.
What are the
responsibilities of a mounted officer?
In the course of their duties:
- they
patrol the downtown core of the city, with emphasis on the large park
areas, patrol the large parks throughout the city,
- handle
dignitary security, search areas that officers on foot cannot, (after
all, they have the ultimate four wheel drive in their mount),
- they
are assigned numerous speaking engagements at schools, citizen groups
and they handle crowd control situations.
- Crowd
control situations, sounds like an ominous situation to become involved
in............
- Let’s explain what a crowd control
situation is. Every large American city has events where they
will be a lot of citizens taking part, as an example lets say around
July 4th, there is a fireworks display at a large downtown park.
Somewhere in the crowd of people there is an injured person that needs
medical attention and emergency personal are responding on foot, due to
the large crowd of people they can’t see exactly where to go into the
crowd. However, due to the advantage of a mounted officer sitting
upon his mount towering over the crowd they can see where the emergency
personal should respond. The mounted officer can then lead the
emergency personal into the crowd asking the citizens on foot to step
aside so the emergency responders can attend to the injured
person. That in its simplicity
is a form of crowd control.
- Naturally, there are extreme forms of crowd control
where an unruly crowd must be controlled to protect citizens and
property, in this situation a fully staffed mounted unit is a necessity
for a large metropolitan city as one trained mounted officer with his
trained mount is essentially the same as ten officers on
foot.
 Community service is essential for every
modern day police department, for if you do not have the support of
your community, police work as a whole can be difficult. A
mounted officer with his mount is “THE” community service
representative of their department. Picture this in your mind, an
officer in a patrol car has all kinds of sophisticated equipment at
their disposal, a computer in the car, numerous types of defense
equipment and weapons. It all looks fairly intimidating.
What does the mounted officer have? First of all, his
mount. Naturally, the officer has the same equipment as those
officers in a patrol car when it comes to wearing the uniform, the duty
belt with the ever imposing handgun. That in itself is not what
the citizen sees when they first see a mounted officer, they see the
mount, the officer’s partner. In that light, the mounted officer
does not seem as intimidating as those officers in the patrol car,
therefore, they seem much more approachable and friendly.
 After all, if the citizen had
the choice of petting a patrol car or police horse, which would they
choose? The mounted officers partner, of course. With that
situation in place, several possibilities arise. Perhaps a person
visiting from another state that has never seen a mounted police
officer, or a citizen of the city with mounted unit that would not
usually talk with a police officer. In an encounter such as this,
a dialog will begin with the mounted officer. For the
visiting person from another state, the mounted officer will shine as
the “Ambassador of Goodwill”
representing the police department and the mounted unit in
particular. For the citizen of their city the mounted officer
will bridge the gap with the citizens of their community they
serve. This type of community service cannot be overlooked by any
large metropolitan city, for it bridges the gap with those that visit
and those that live there by opening up communication with its police
department.
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