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Even though there hasn’t been much chatter about it lately, the Lexington Police Department’s plans to create a mounted patrol unit are still underway – just with a few adjustments.
Following approval from Lexington City Council in January 2022 of a proposal to create a mounted unit, some initial fundraising and the donation of a pair of horses to the unit, Lexington Police Chief Angela Greene and Lieutenant Cherie Padgett began training to be the inaugural officers in the proposed unit.
The training hit a bit of a speed bump late last year, however, when both Greene and Padgett had to take medical leave from the department. They were back to full duty by February of this year, but they were unable to continue the training in the interim.
“That kind of taught us a valuable lesson,” Greene told The News-Gazette last week. “With having just two people we’re training, having any hiccups that come along really deters the unit from moving forward.”
As a result of that revelation, a new strategy for the unit was developed, including expanding the number of officers involved. A pair of new officers who have recently graduated from the police academy will be joining the unit, while Padgett will be undergoing training to become the unit instructor. As a result, additional fundraising efforts are underway to purchase two more horses for the unit as well as a horse trailer to transport them.
The goal, Greene explained, is to have “at least three patrolready horses so that if one horse or rider is unable to perform their duties, for whatever reason, we’ll still have two horses and two riders who can still go out and fulfill the mounted unit objectives.”
The current fundraising goal for the new horses and trailer is $40,000. The USA Equestrian Trust has awarded the department a grant of $5,000 to be put toward the cost of the trailer, but Greene estimates that the department will need around an additional $20,000 for that purpose.
The new officers will begin training for mounted patrols in the late summer or early fall of this year, and Greene hopes that the department will be able to get the horses out more for people to see in the late fall as their training progresses. The goal is to have the horses and riders “fully trained and ready for the streets by the spring [of 2024],” Greene said.
Once it is up and running, the mounted unit will provide a number of benefits to the city and the police department, Greene said. The unit will help increase public safety, by giving officers a “clear, unobstructed view over crowds, distance/areas, over fences and other obstacles. One mounted officer is equal to 10 patrol officers in regards to awareness of the public for sense of security, visibility and criminal deterrence.”
The unit will also help improve recruitment and retention of officers for the department and provide an additional means of community support and outreach for the department.
Any individuals interested in making a donation to the mounted patrol unit can do so through the Lexington Mounted Unit Inc. nonprofit set up to help with fundraising.
For more information, contact Pamela Roberson at (540) 462-3749 or at [email protected]. Additional information and updates about the mounted unit can be found at the Lexington Mounted Unit Inc. Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/LexingtonMountedUnitInc.
