Mounted police unit?

[SteelTown]

Pony up for mounted unit, police ask board

September 21, 2009
Dana Brown
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/638633

Hamilton police are getting ready to mount up.

After a tryout with Toronto police on horseback in Hess Village several weeks ago, the city's force is ready for a mounted unit of its own.

Today the police services board is set to debate a recommendation to proceed with and fund a three-year pilot project.

"This unit will heighten the Police Service's ability to accomplish crime prevention, manage our entertainment districts, complement our search and rescue capabilities and provide park and trail safety," said the report going to the board.

The unit would focus patrols on the core, but would also be available in other areas needing special attention.

Initially, it would be made up of four officers and four horses, but another four officers would become part of the team for its second year.

The startup cost is pegged at $72,000, which police recommend should come from the capital reserve budget.

Another $10,000 annually would then be needed for the maintenance of each horse.

The annual amount would cover costs such as boarding, training and vet bills.

That funding would be included in the 2010 police budget.

According to a business plan for the unit, mounted officers would help manage entertainment districts such as Hess Village, have the ability to help with search and rescue, help with park and trail safety, and promote community outreach.

Bob Bratina, Ward 2 councillor and chair of the downtown cleanliness and security task force, said the Hess event proved a mounted unit has positive advantages in a number of ways, including crowd control.

"But in addition to that, it provides some really pleasant visual change to the boring streetscape," he said. "There's nothing like seeing a horse, I think ... they always attract attention, and they just provide something different that I think we need downtown."

The move to mount up comes as several forces in the United States have been forced to cut horse patrols because of budget constraints. In July, The Wall Street Journal reported police forces in Boston; Toledo, Ohio; Roanoke, Va.; and Camden, N.J. have all chopped mounted units.

But Hamilton's proposed unit has received several letters of support from major players in the community, including the Tiger-Cats, McMaster University, Mohawk College and Tourism Hamilton.

The Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners also sent a letter of support, but president John Wigle has since retracted some of his statements.

Wigle said Friday he does not see a need for mounted patrols in ravines or places such as Churchill Park in the west end, or during McMaster's annual pyjama parade.

He does, however, feel the unit would be useful in Hess Village and can see where it would be worthwhile if there were incidents on the Rail Trail.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has also received a go-ahead for a mounted unit.

If the unit is approved, it would hit the streets by spring 2010.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton police get mounted unit

Ted Michaels
9/21/2009
http://www.900chml.com/Channels/Reg/...spx?ID=1142240

Hamilton police have a new component to fight crime.

The police services board has unanimously approved funding for a mounted unit for Hamilton Police.

The police had a tryout with Toronto police on horseback in Hess Village several weeks ago.

The next step is select the officers, then get into a training program through the fall and winter.

The goal is to have the mounted units in the downtown core by spring 2010.

[matt602]

Very glad to see this happen. I always wondered why Hamilton didn't have a mounted unit. Should look nice

[Blurr]

Great news!

Good attraction for downtown. Makes me more likely to spend time there.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton police adding horsepower

September 22, 2009
John Kernaghan
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/639287

Giddy-up. Hamilton's new mounted division will be riding city streets next spring.

The Hamilton Police Services Board approved the four-horse pilot project yesterday, convinced by arguments based on cost and efficiency in crime prevention.

"This is nothing but spectacular," gushed Mayor Fred Eisenberger after Sergeant Marty Schulenberg laid out a business model.

But the pony patrol plan has a soft side beyond the hard numbers of the $72,000 budget.

Schulenberg said police horses have a unique way of transforming crowds and serving as a bridge between mounted officer and public.

"When we had the Toronto forces provide two horses for a trial at Hess Village, everybody in the street began clapping when the horses turned down the street."

He said evidence in other cities where patrols have long been in place shows horses have a calming effect on people because they are big and powerful, but also gentle.

While some American cities have dropped mounted patrols due to budget cuts, the business plan showed mounted units cost much less than cruisers and motorcycles, and that horses can serve for 15 to 20 years and in some cases can do the work of many officers.

Schulenberg said one officer on horseback can search several farm fields in less time than 30 officers would take because the officer observes everything from a higher vantage point and the horse covers more ground. Moreover, the horse's keen ears pick up sounds that help in detection.

Police Chief Brian Mullan said the idea has excited many officers and there would be jockeying to get the four saddles available.

"We have many officers who already have lots of experience with horses so we have a good pool to draw from," he said.

Those spots need to be assigned soon -- the horses must be purchased for a minimum of $5,000 and the horse-and-rider teams must be trained over a four-month period by Toronto Police Services.

Both two-horse patrols would be on city streets and doing park and trail patrols by May.

Councillor Terry Whitehead supported the concept but cautioned veterinary care could be more expensive than projected. The issue of horse droppings was also a worry.

Schulenberg said in an interview he got complaints about what the horses left in Hess Village, but felt a combination of officer training, liaison with city works staff and co-operation with business districts would deal with potential problems.

The Hess experiment impressed people at the Gown & Gavel pub.

"I didn't hear any complaints," said Onai Sharif, assistant general manager. "Staff here saw how the horses stifled any nonsense on the street."

[SteelTown]

Police unveil city's first mounted unit at festival today

May 12, 2010
Nicole O'Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/767694

These horses are big -- really big -- and Hamilton police hope they will make a big difference in making the downtown feel -- and be -- safer.

No one outside the police service knows the names of the four black Percheron breed horses brought in from an Indiana farm in January.

After 15 weeks of intense training in Toronto that included crowd management and sensory distractions, they and their names will be unveiled around noon today during the Police in the Park Festival at Bayfront Park.

The three-year pilot project, at $72,000 plus $10,000 operational costs each year, will mark the first time the service has had a mounted unit. So the unveiling has been planned with much fanfare.

The big, black animals will be presented with badges and their names unveiled before a group of Hamilton school kids who won a contest to name three horses, said Sergeant Marty Schulenberg, commander of the unit.

Three of the horses are named by kids from six different schools (some of the winning names were repeat submission) and the fourth was named in a police competition.

The horses are 17 hands (173 centimetres) tall from the ground to their neck and weigh upwards of 700 kilograms. All are males; two are four years old and the other two are six.

The unit's intention is to be a highly visible patrol unit, mostly in the downtown, he said.

"Police are often confined to being reactive but (the mounted unit) has the possibility of crime prevention," said Schulenberg, adding people are welcome to walk up to officers and chat about any problems in their community.

The unit will work with the new Addressing Crime Trends in our Neighbourhoods (ACTION) Team.

Crowd control, especially in places like Hess Village, will also be a major job for the unit, who will be out year round. Schulenberg said they will be effective because a horse makes an officer more visible and can have a calming effect.

Given their size, these horses are obviously strong, but Schulenberg said they are also known for their willingness to work, calm dispositions and intelligence.

Officers went through a two-week assessment looking at police and riding experience late last year, Schulenberg said. The chosen group, constables Brad Adams, Greg Mills, Valika Zafirides and Preston Gabriele, scored high on strength and flexibility tests.

"But it's more about an officer's ability to communicate with the horses," Schulenberg said. "It's their job to instil confidence in the horse."

The unit will officially be in business after the unveiling. At first they will go out in pairs, but eventually the team will go out individually in shifts throughout the week.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton police's new mounted unit - Const. Vilika Zafirides on Lincoln; Sgt. Marty Schulenberg on Griffin; Const. Preston Gabriele on Trooper; and Const. Brad Adams on Barron - were unveiled to the public at a police week event at Bayfront Park at noon on Wednesday.
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/768224