Chicago Police Department’s mounted patrol | What’s up with that?

Why does the Chicago Police Department maintain the cops-on-horseback patrol? Of all the cuts the CPD is making, why not cut this seemingly outdated unit?

Get this straight, neigh-sayers: The Chicago Police Department isn’t horsing around with its mounted patrol unit. Keeping cops on horses saves the department money, according to Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden. “They are great for traffic control. One horse can take the place of a number of officers,” Camden says. “If you’ve ever been stepped on by a horse, you know to move quickly.” Positive PR is also a factor; the regal equines are approachable, and “there is nothing like a mounted officer to get kids excited,” Camden says of the unit that comprises one lieutenant, four sergeants and 27 officers. Saddled-up cops, who make an annual salary of $55,728 to $84,876 according to the CPD’s 2009 annual report (the latest available), can typically be seen patrolling high-traffic areas like the lakefront and the parks as well as herding drunks outside sporting events when their steeds aren’t corralled in the stables of the South Shore Cultural Center.