Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in the UK for crime prevention and high visibility policing roles. The added height and visibility that the horses give their riders allows officers to observe a wider area, and it also allows people in the wider area to see the officers, which helps deter crime and helps people find officers when they need them.[1] When employed for crowd control, there is a risk that some people may be trampled (resulting in injuries or death). The officer riding the horse might or might not be held legally responsible for injuries depending upon the totality of the circumstances.[2]
Mounted police may be employed for specialized duties ranging from patrol of parks and
History
The French
The establishment of organized law-enforcement bodies throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas during the colonial and post-colonial eras made the concept of predominantly horse-police accepted almost world-wide.
Equipment
Tack used by mounted police is similar to standard riding tack, with adaptations for police use. Synthetic saddles are often favored over those made of natural leather to reduce weight, important both because of long riding hours and because police officers must carry numerous articles of personal equipment. High-traction horseshoes made of speciality metals or fitted with rubber soles are typically used in urban areas in place of standard steel horseshoes, which are prone to slip on pavement. Rubber soled shoes also produce less noise than steel shoes and jar the hoof less.
Horses working in riot control wear facial armor, made of perspex so that the animals can still see. The officers themselves are often equipped with especially long wooden or polycarbonate batons for use on horseback, as standard patrol batons would have insufficient length to strike individuals at ground level.
Notable modern units
Australia
Australia, being a large country and not densely populated, commonly used mounted police in order to traverse the country side. All of the Mounted police units were formed in the 19th century and have continued to this day, excepting Tasmania.
- The New South Wales Mounted Police is a mounted section of the New South Wales Police Force, and the oldest continuous mounted group in the world,[10] formed in 7 September 1825. Currently they have a strength of 36 officers and around 38 mounts and their duties include traffic and crowd management, patrols, and ceremonial protocol duties.[11]
- The "Mounted Branch", or The Victorian Police Mounted Branch was formed in 1838 as the Mounted Police Fifth Division which consisted of soldiers from infantry regiments. The Unit has 26 officers and more than 20 mounts.
- The Western Australian Mounted Police Branch was formed in 1834 and continues operation to this day.[12] It is the second oldest Mounted police Branch in the world after that of New South Wales.
- The Mounted Police of the South Australian Police force, known as "The Greys" due to the fact they only use grey horses, dates back to the start of the state's police force when it was originally formed of half mounted and half foot police, in 1838.[13] The Mounted police also used Camels up until 1951.
- Tasmanian Police used horses for riding and teams of Tasmanian Tigers to pull sleds through Alpine (high country) territory in Winter. Both sleds [14] and horses were dropped in favour of motorbikes, when the Police department purchased 84 departmentally owned motorcycle and sidecar units during late 1935 early 1936.
- The Northern Territory Police has a mounted unit, which dates back to the late 19th century.
Canada
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is a well-known mounted police force, although horses are no longer in use operationally. However, horses are still used in the Musical Ride as well as by several provincial and municipal police detachments. In reference to their mounted heritage, current RCMP vehicle livery includes a silhouette of a horse and rider.
A few other Canadian police forces have mounted units, including:
- Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has had a mounted unit since 1873, but full time after 2003; the unit has 4 horses.
- Toronto Police Service Mounted Unit - created in 1886 and has largest mounted unit among municipal police forces currently with 27 horses. Upon request, the mounted unit may be deployed to other cities.[15]
- Halifax Regional Police Mounted Unit with 2 horses and 2 assigned riders[16]
- Hamilton Police Service - established January 2010 with 5 horses.
- Service de police de la Ville de Montréal Cavalry - oldest mounted unit (formed 1885) and currently with 8 horses.[17]
- Calgary Police Service c. 1978 and currently with 6 horses.[18]
- Vancouver Police Department Mounted Squad c. 1908 and reformed 1951 after disbanding in 1949; ~7 horses in the unit.
Oman
The Royal Oman Police have many horse- and camel-mounted troopers.
United Kingdom
The
United States
Many cities in the United States have mounted units, New York having one of the largest with 55 horses as of 2016,[19] The Houston, Texas Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit was started in 1983 and now consists of 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants and 24 officers. It has become increasingly well known due to the decision to remove the shoes of all its 38 mounted horses and embrace the concept of naturalizing their horses' diet and care.[20][21]
Several American mounted units were disbanded or downsized in the 2010s.[22] For example, units in Boston and San Diego were disbanded by 2011, while New York City’s mounted unit was reduced considerably over the last decade with 79 police officers and 60 horses in 2011 – down from the 130 officers and 125 horses it had before the downsizing.[1] Philadelphia's mounted police unit was disbanded in 2004, but reinstated in 2011 with four horses from the disbanding unit of Newark, New Jersey.
The
See also
- Mounted search and rescue – Specialty within search and rescue
- Police dog – Dog trained and used for law enforcement
- Police paddock – Australian term for land set aside for police horses
- Use of UAVs in law enforcement – Alternative for crowd control
- Municipal horse.
References
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ Houston Woman Trampled By Mounted Police Officer During Summer Protests Sues HPD, City
- ^ M. Petard, "Le cavalier de la maréchaussée", pages 22-27 "Uniformes" nr 85 Album 12
- ^ Michael Roth "Mounted Police Forces: a comparative history", pages 707-719 Vol 21 "Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management"
- ISBN 0-85045-834-X.
- ISBN 0-8420-2439-5.
- ISBN 0-85045-728-9.
- Illustrated London News, June 26, 1897
- ISBN 84-86629-34-9.
- ^ Mounted Police Archived 2011-02-19 at the Wayback Machine at 'Thin Blue Line' unofficial NSW police site.
- ^ "Australians for Constitutional Monarchy".
- ^ Police, Western Australia (2023-08-30). "Our History". Western Australia Police. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
- ^ Fanning, Graeme. "Weekend Notes - South Australian Police Historical Society Museum".
- ^ "Harness the power of your pooch with sled dog boot camp". ABC News. 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
- ^ Accessed 25 February 2022, https://ottawa.citynews.ca/police-beat/police-send-in-mounted-officers-to-create-critical-space-from-assaultive-protesters-5082341
- ^ Accessed 20 February 2022, https://www.halifax.ca/fire-police/police/about-halifax-regional-police/mounted-unit
- ^ "Cavalry - Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal - SPVM".
- ^ "About our mounted patrols and the horses".
- ^ Cook, Lauren (September 16, 2016). "NYPD Mounted Unit: Meet the horses that patrol NYC's streets". amNewYork. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ Willis, Jill (November–December 2011). "Barefoot Police Horses". Equine Wellness Magazine. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ^ Sokoloski, Greg (2005). "City of Houston Police Horses Go Barefoot". The Horse's Hoof Magazine (18). Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
- ^ "Border Patrol Horses Get Special Feed that Helps Protect Desert Ecosystem". Enn.com. 2005-06-09. Retrieved 2011-10-18.