Mounted officers offer a great many advantages, including:
- Visibility: Horses provide officers with ideal platforms to “See and Be Seen,” including superior line of vision in crowds, parking lots, terrain and thick vegetation.
- Traffic Management: Horses maneuver through traffic more effectively than vehicles. Including the ability to going against the flow of traffic, move between vehicles, and cross medians.
- Search and Rescue: With the ability to move quickly through terrain inaccessible to vehicles, mounted units are invaluable in search and rescue operations. Horses can also carry equipment to front line searchers over difficult terrain and alert their riders to the presence of humans or animals.
- Community Relations: A mounted officer has a unique impact on adults, as well as children. Both are drawn to the horses and are more comfortable asking questions of a mounted officer. These positive experiences build trust and good will between citizens and local law enforcement.
- Crowd Control: Whether it is a sporting event, parade, large public gathering or protest, mounted police units are highly effective in controlling, containing and moving crowds.
- Patrol: The mounted officer's presence is apparent from blocks away, which is comforting to the law abiding citizens and discouraging to would-be lawbreakers.
Family Greeting Horses at Mounted Unit Open House
