Life in the Mounted Patrol

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Life in the Mounted Patrol

When dealing with crowds, one mounted officer is as effective as seven to ten officers on foot. Their high visibility deters crime, and their popularity with the public helps to balance the distrust police departments frequently come up against.

If you are lucky, you have visited a city with a mounted police unit, and have seen its streets patrolled by officers on horseback. If you are very lucky, you live in a city with a mounted unit. But no matter how many times you have seen them, every time you get a chance to see a squad ride down the street you will probably stop to stand and watch. There is something really special about a mounted police unit.

They perform a unique and valuable service for everything from crowd control to community relations. It has been said many times: no one ever asks to pet a police car. The oldest police departments were made up of officers both walking the beat and on horseback. Baltimore has the oldest mounted unit, started in 1888. The three largest cities in the country–New York, Los Angeles and Chicago–all have mounted squads. We put questions about police life from the back of a horse to Sargent Leslie Wills of the Houston, Texas Mounted Patrol, and Sargent Joey Roberts of the Kansas City, Missouri Mounted Unit. Their answers might surprise you.

Horse & Academy: How many officers and how many horses do you have in your unit?

Sgt. Wills: We currently have 28 Officers assigned to our unit and three Civilian Stable Attendants. We have 32 horses of all different breeds and colors.

Sgt. Roberts: We have nine total: eight Officers and one Sergeant. We currently have 10 horses, but have the capability of maintaining a maximum of 12. All of the horses are donated to the police department and are trained in-house.

H&A: Do you get assigned to the same horse all the time?

Sgt. Wills: Officers do have regularly assigned horses that they ride on a daily basis. If something happens to their horse (like being sick or injured) we have other horses for them to ride until their horse is back active again.

Sgt. Roberts: Each officer is assigned a horse based on several different factors such as: size, riding ability and riding style. There are occasions when a horse may have thrown a shoe or have an injury preventing him from deployment, which would require an officer to ride another horse.

H&A: Who takes care of feeding and grooming the horses?

Sgt. Wills: Until last year we had a full Civilian Staff that did all of the feeding and grooming. Due to budget cuts they were all laid off and the officers began the stable management. We have now hired back three stable attendants, but the officers continue to assist.

Sgt. Roberts: The maintenance of the facility, including all horse care,

by Nancy Norton, Executive Editor

is conducted by the officers and Sergeant within the section.

H&A: Did all of the mounted police ride horses when they were growing up?

Sgt. Wills: Actually many of the officers have never ridden when they apply. It is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that they are top-notch police officers. I can teach them how to ride. Everyone goes through a minimum eight weeks of basic training, with monthly updates.

Sgt. Roberts: Some of the officers have a background in riding, and some have no prior riding experience. Once assigned to the section, each officer is taught equitation specifically geared towards mounted police work.

H&A: What additional training does someone interested in being a mounted patrol need?

Sgt. Wills: They must be serious police officers with a great work ethic:

The Houston, Texas, Mounted Patrol (left) and The Kansas City, Missouri, Mounted Patrol (above). Photos provided.

good integrity, high motivation, able to care for horses, and here in Houston, be able to work in all types of weather, especially the heat. There is no air conditioner on that horse.

Sgt. Roberts: An officer must first complete a minimum of three years in a patrol assignment. We conduct weekly unit training sessions where I invite interested candidates to participate. This allows me the opportunity to evaluate ability and comfort level prior to completion of the selection process.

H&A: Do you have an interesting story you could share?

Sgt. Wills: Ninety percent of our horses are donated to us by individuals. Many times it is because the horse is too much for them; “crazy” is the word donors often use. In one case, I was riding a donated horse in front of its donor, through flares, over a jump, over a teeter board, and around the course. The horse was calm and confident throughout. At the end, the donor looked at me and said that none of her horses would have done that. I turned to her and said, ‘This is your horse.” Sgt. Roberts: Four Mounted Patrol officers were patrolling when a call came that someone was shooting a firearm in a nearby park. We trotted to the area and observed a large crowd in some chaos. We contacted officers on the ground and they relayed that several individuals were seen getting into a white SUV. We cantered through the park and observed a white SUV leaving in a hurry. We stopped the SUV, and observed three males inside the vehicle. We got the individuals out and had them lie on the ground until ground officers arrived to take them into custody. While waiting, we observed a head pop up from inside the vehicle behind the rear seat. We were at an elevated position; an officer on the ground could not have seen it from the side because the SUV had tinted windows. We then discovered four others in the back lying on top of two rifles and a handgun. All parties were taken into custody and the situation was resolved. The horses allowed us to be where we needed to be. n

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