Police who patrol on horseback or camelback
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
wilderness areas
, where
police cars
would be impractical or noisy, to
riot
duty, where the horse serves to intimidate those whom it is desired to disperse through its larger size, or may be sent in to detain trouble makers or offenders from the crowd. For example, in the UK, mounted police are most often seen at
football
matches, although they are also a common sight on the streets of many towns and cities as a visible police presence and crime deterrent during the day and night. Some mounted police units are trained in
search and rescue
due to the horse's ability to travel where vehicles cannot.
History
[
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]
The French
Marechaussee
?direct predecessors of the
gendarmerie
and the first national police force in a modern sense?were a corps of completely mounted constabulary from their establishment in the early 18th century.
[3]
Poor roads and extensive rural areas made horse-mounted police a necessity in European states until the early 20th century.
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.
[4]
Notable examples include the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
,
[5]
the Mexican
Rurales
,
[6]
the
Rhodesian
British South Africa Police
,
[7]
the Turkish/Cypriot
Zapiteh
[8]
and the
caballeria
(mounted branch) of the
Spanish Civil Guard
.
[9]
Equipment
[
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]
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
[
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]
Australia
[
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]
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
[
citation needed
]
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
[
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]
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:
Oman
[
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]
The
Royal Oman Police
have many horse- and camel-mounted troopers.
United Kingdom
[
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]
There are thirteen mounted police sections in the UK. The mounted sections support policing in specialist operations, major incidents, and anti-social behaviour. A mounted officer's responsibilities may include liaising with rural and urban communities on horseback or situations that may attract large crowds such as at sporting and cultural events or at demonstrations. Mounted sections also participate in ceremonial duties.
[19]
The
Bow Street Horse Patrol
, founded in 1763, are the oldest uniformed police force in the world. They were formally incorporated into the Metropolitan Police in 1836. Today the
Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch
is the mounted section of the
Metropolitan Police
, the police force of
Greater London
(excluding the
City of London
, where the separate
City of London Police
has its own
mounted branch
). The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch undertakes crowd control duties, especially at football matches, but also conducts general street patrols and escorts the
Royal Guard
change at the London's
royal residences
.
United States
[
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]
Many cities in the United States have mounted units, New York having one of the largest with 55 horses as of 2016,
[20]
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.
[21]
[22]
Several American mounted units were disbanded or downsized in the 2010s.
[23]
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
United States Border Patrol
had 200 horses in 2005. Most of these are employed along the
U.S.?Mexico border
. In
Arizona
, these animals are fed special processed feed pellets so that their wastes do not spread non-native plants in the national parks and wildlife areas they patrol.
[24]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
Cooper, Michael (15 February 2011).
"Police Horses Are Diminished in Number, but Not Presence"
.
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 marechaussee", 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"
- ^
Ross, David (24 March 1988).
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police 1873-1987
. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 5?6.
ISBN
0-85045-834-X
.
- ^
Abbott, Peter (1992).
Disorder and Progress: Bandits, Police and Mexican Development
. Rowman & Littlefield. pp.
47?48
.
ISBN
0-8420-2439-5
.
- ^
Ross, David (15 June 1986).
Modern African Wars (1): Rhodesia
. pp. 35?36.
ISBN
0-85045-728-9
.
- ^
Illustrated London News
, June 26, 1897
- ^
Bueno, Jose (1989).
La Guardia Civil, su historia, organizacion y sus uniformes
. Aldaba Ediciones. pp. 46, 70 & 74.
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 Montreal - SPVM"
.
- ^
"About our mounted patrols and the horses"
.
- ^
"Mounted Forces"
.
The British Horse Society
. 2024-04-25
. Retrieved
2024-05-07
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Cooper, Michael (14 February 2011).
"Police Departments Downsize, From 4 Legs to 2"
.
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
.
External links
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]