Detroit Mounted Police Get A 'Leg Up' From Local Business
DETROIT (WWJ) You've heard of programs to adopt a highway, and one local company is forging a new path into the adopt-a-police-horse program.
Strategic Staffing Solutions, a high-tech headhunting firm, has agreed to adopt the five horses in the Detroit mounted police unit. They'll pay for food, vet bills and more -- at an annual cost of $7,500 per horse.
Marge Sorge of Strategic Staffing told WWJ's Vickie Thomas, "It's great fun."
Cindy Pasky, president and CEO of the company added that the unit plays a "key role" in crime prevention and community engagement.
The Mounted Unit rides 365 days a year unless weather does not permit and it's below 15 degrees, heavy rain, lighting or ice storms.
Sgt. Eric Eide told WWJ's Vickie Thomas the horses are out quite a bit.
"Myself and the officers have been at multiple events daily," Eide said, adding they'll be at the Detroit Grand Prix, patrolling along the Riverwalk and the downtown this weekend. They also patrol Detroit's neighborhoods, its universities, Midtown, Downtown, Eastern Market, major parks and shopping centers. Mounted Police demonstrations can be arranged by schools, churches and other organizations.
The Detroit Police Department's Mounted Police Division, one of our country's oldest, was established in 1893. At its peak, the Division had five barns, 80 officers and more than 60 horses.
Today, DPD's Mounted Police operate from one barn in Palmer Park.