I work in midtown Manhattan, right by Times Square. Today (as I have in the past), I saw a police officer riding a horse. I know that there is a corps of mounted police in NYC - I’ve seen them here, in Brooklyn, etc. I even know where some of the horses are stabled.
But what is the purpose? I’m sure back in the day before motor vehicles there was a legitimate need for “faster than feet” travel for police officers. But is there still a real need today? I suppose one could argue that a horse could get through a traffic jam better than a car can, but so could a bicycle, which would be much cheaper.
Is there some purpose that I’m missing, or is it a quaint holdover from yesteryear?
There is a ceremonial role for them – funerals, etc. – and there is a certain public relations value in seeing the mounted police around the public parks and so forth.
However, they also have significant value for crowd control purposes. From the New York City web site:
Crowd Control is the main purpose, as aluded to by BrotherCadfael’s quotation. A cop on a horse is a good 12 feet tall, and can see over the crowd easily. A horse can navigate between people, on sidewalks, etc. with ease. And if you push a horse, it will push you back.
Mounted police are common in Britain. Particularly at football matches, where crowd control can become, ummm, ‘intense’. I’ve also seen them out as part of regular patrols on Friday/Saturday nights - I guess drunken idiots who aren’t afraid of taking on a couple of policemen would feel differently about a horse. And the visibility offered, mentioned by friedo, makes them useful in other ways - I’ve seen them also present at mundane events, where they can act as a kind of signpost, so people can find them easily from a distance. (Incidentally, that’s also the reason for the traditional tall British police hat.)
Also, New York has a few huge parks. Central Park is 843 acres, Prospect Park in Brooklyn is 526 acres. Forest Park in Queens is 538 acres, nearby Flushing Meadow (site of two World’s Fairs) is 1,255 acres.
In the Bronx there’s Van Cortlandt park, 1,146 acres, and the biggest in the city, Pelham Bay Park has 2,764 acres.
One cop on a horse can cover more distance over the varying terrains better than any combination of police in cars, on foot or bicycle.
I had a friend who was a San Francisco cop for a while. She wanted to be in the mounted police, but there was a long list of people ahead of her.
They do have the advantage of not being hampered by traffic jams — they can maneuver around them fairly easily.
They are good for crowd control, as others have noted. A smart alec may mouth off at a cop, but most people will move out of the way when they have a thousand pounds of horse creating a wall next to them. You don’t want to have a horse step on you.
They’re also great for public relations. There are a lot of people who are intimidated or hostile to police, but could be enticed to approach them because they want to see the pretty horsey.
I think the “12 foot high” number is a bit of an exaggeration, unless you’re talking about a very tall cop standing on a draft horse.
And another thing ---- in the weird mindset some people have, they wouldn’t hesitate to throw rocks or broken bottles at a cop (if they thought they could get away with it), but wouldn’t throw them at a horse, because that’s just wrong.
Actually, the Parks are patrolled by the Mounted Park Rangers, who are not NYPD but are “peace officers.” Of course the Mounted Police could pursue a suspect into a park if necessary, or be present at an event like a concert within a park, but generally, the Mounted Park Rangers take care of matters inside the Park.
12 feet may be a little much, but not by far. Consider Jack Frost of the NYPD, who stands 18 1/2 hands. If his rider is around 6 feet, then you’re looking at 9 to 10 feet. See here for a story about him (from the Philly paper, since Jack went to NYC after Philadelphia shut down their mounted unit.)
Many cities have the sherrif ride horses for this reason. Horses are still used *because * of the fact that they are not common and so they are more effective then they would be if every police officer rode a horse. Think about it. Would you be more influenced by seeing millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street or millions of police in cars, bikes, and on the street and a few police officers on horse?
Heh heh…there’s also the drunken people I’m with (not me, honest ) who just want to see the pretty horsies. To be fair, they are wonderful animals, clearly looked after extremly well. And they love the attention.
I guess the horses see potential trouble-makers the way we see Jack Russells. Lots of noise, but one swift kick and it’s all over…
A proposed law here, on increasing the penalty for killing a Police horse or dog. It’s dated 2002, so I didn’t find the outcome. I am sure any assault on an animal will get you jail time.
I wonder if an Alex Karass-type drunk has, as an homage to “Blazing Saddles,” ever tried to punch out a NYPD horse. I also wonder if this New York horse would punch back–with brass knuckles.
I don’t know about New York, but in my area if you harm a police animal (horse or dog, doesn’t matter) it’s treated as an assault on a police officer.
Horse patrols were on the way out mid-20th Century, then during the 1960’s both police forces and protesters/rioters discovered something interesting - it’s a lot easier to overturn a police car than a police horse, because the horse puts up resistance to being overturned.
While bike patrols can duplicate many of the same feats as a mounted officer, they can’t duplicate all. For instance, bicycles and motorcycles can’t leap over 6 foot fences, but horses can, which can certainly be of benefit in pursuing a suspect. A horse has considerable mass and weight, much more than a bicycle, which can be used to herd unruly crowds. A horse can defend itself from damage in a way a mechanical means of transport can’t. Horses are not significantly slowed by running over grass or similar non-paved surfaces, unlike wheeled vehicles.
In short, they have a niche, even today, beyond just a ceremonial role.
In Abbie Hoffman’s Woodstock Nation, he talks about protesters bringing knitting needles to stab the police horses.
A friend of mine was once pulled over in his car by a mounted Park ranger in Valley Forge Park. The horse at one point attempted to insert its head inside the open car window.
I was once at a Grateful Dead concert at the Capital Centre in Maryland. Deadheads were never an unruly bunch, but they did tend to like to hang out in the parking lot after the show. A line of mounted police officers lined up their mounts nose to tail and started walking them sideways through the crowd - effectively creating a wall of horses.
You can rest assured that everyone moved out of the way.
Broomstick wrote:
bicycles and motorcycles can’t leap over 6 foot fences, but horses can.
Er, not many of them, and I doubt the officer would make it to the other side. The world record for jumping is around 7 feet 8 inches and it takes a uniquely skilled rider and horse to achieve that. Very, very few horses will ever jump 6 feet.
Here’s a picture of three-time olympian Kathy Kushner jumping 7’2", so you can see how absurdly high that is. http://home.earthlink.net/~kathykusner/horsenewnew.gif
I salute the riding skills of the NYPD but over a 6’ fence any one of them would be toast. I think the park benches in “True Lies” were probably about 2’6" tall and to do that with skill is no small feat for most people.
These would be “peace protesters”, no doubt. Peace, love, music & togetherness. That was supposed to be the Woodstock message, wasn’t it? Was “hippie” supposed to be short for “hypocrite”?
Certainly most hippies would never do such a loathsome thing as harming an animal like that. Most protesters are nonviolent. It was always amusing, though, to turn on the TV early in the Iraq war and hear, “More bloody violence erupted again today among “peace protesters” in [pick the city]…” They certainly were protesting the peace.
