MPD expands its downtown horseback patrol

The Minneapolis Police Department is strengthening its downtown Mounted Patrol Unit to meet what police say is a growing demand for officers on horseback, according to Sgt. Angela Dodge, who supervises the unit. Last week, the MPD designated 10 new officers to the Mounted Patrol. The city owns 11 horses at present; also in the works are plans to redevelop the city’s former water works facility, located on the northern outskirts of town as a stable for the horses.

The $2 million project for which the Mounted Patrol Unit’s nonprofit agency is fundraising will be completed in two phases. (Though the Mounted Patrol relies on MPD officers, it operates as a separate nonprofit, depending solely on donations. Officers come to the unit by special assignment.) Right now, the donated water works property is undergoing environmental testing. Currently, officers travel back and forth with a trailer full of horses from a ranch near Delano, a long commute from downtown Minneapolis. Dodge hopes the facility will be functional in time for the Republican National Convention (RNC) this September, with the second phase scheduled to wrap up by year’s end.

Continued: Click “Read More”So does that mean the enhanced equine presence is part of the city’s efforts to spruce up for Republican National Convention visitors? Dodge claims the RNC’s coming wasn’t the driving force behind expanding the unit. Its popularity had already increased the need: “[The unit] has grown because of the hard work of the officers. They have shown their value. It provides an added sense of security.”

She said she gets more and more calls for the unit to special events every year. Minneapolis’ Mounted Patrol is the largest of its kind in the five-state area; it boasts a total of 30 officers who come from a wide cross-section of the MPD. Eight of the riders are full-time. That’s up from the original three officers on the unit at its start in 1996. The horses are donated.

Dodge is quick to point out that mounted patrol officers can do everything that a regular cop can do, except transport suspects to jail or enter buildings. (Engaging in high-speed chases is probably out of the question, too.) “In my 19 years [on the MPD], no one has ever asked to pet my squad car,” says Dodge, “but most people love horses.”