Save Boston's Police Horses!
by Fran Jurga | 19 March 2009 | The Jurga Report
Police horses took to the outfield to control angry crowds at Boston's Fenway Park during the 1912 World Series. The horses have served the city since 1873. Double-click on photo to see enlarged view; photo courtesy of the Boston Public Library.They’re always there, whether it’s bobbing over the heads of the crowds outside a Red Sox game or with billowing sails behind them on a spring day on the Charles River. You hear them clip-clopping up and down the cobblestones in front of Paul Revere’s house and you see the familiar horse trailer parked in the strangest places downtown. And no one will ever forget the day that Boston Police horse fell down a manhole.
But everywhere you go in Boston lately, there’s a hushed tone of concern: “Did you hear about the police horses?” “How can they shut them down?” “The first horse I ever patted was one of those big guys!” and, most often comes the follow-up, “What can we do to save them?”
In a city that’s more like a town, and in a town where a horse is technically a “hoss”, there is outrage, indignation and an outpouring of support to keep the clip-clop on the city’s register of official sounds.
Horses have patrolled Boston streets since 1873. For many years the force favored Morgan-type horses but lately has bought and trained draft crosses that tower over crowds at events like the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory parades. Boston Police horses galloped onto the Fenway Park outfield when a riot erupted at the 1912 World Series.
But across the country, from Honolulu to Cincinnati, police horses have been menaced with the budget ax in the past few years, although Philadelphia’s new commissioner bucked the trend and pledged to bring back the disbanded mounted unit there.
Boston horse lovers are not letting their street-savvy steeds go without a fight. An online petition has been launched with plenty of room for your signature, whether you live in Boston or not.
Click here to go the petition to save the Boston Police Mounted Unit.
Click here for the “Save the Boston Police Mounted Unit” Facebook page, which already had 891 members when I wrote this post!
Supporters of the Boston Police Mounted Unit may also write to:
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis
Boston Police Headquarters
One Schroeder Place
Boston MA 02120
Or contact the office of Boston Mayor Thomas` Menino:
Email address: mayor@cityofboston.gov
Tel: 617.635.4500
Fax: 617.635.2851
Thanks to farrier Sean McClure for his help with this article.
Labels: Boston, Horses, mounted, police, Red Sox, Series, World
posted by Fran Jurga @ 3/19/2009
10 comments
10 Comments:
Cool photo! I'm a Sox fan as well as horse person.
I think police horses are very good for community outreach and creating a positive image.
Thank you for informing your readers about this. As a horse lover who used to live in New England, this issue is important to me, and I never would have known about this if you hadn't posted this blog. I have a photo that my mother took of me with one of Boston's police horses. I hope and pray that the Boston Mounted Police Unit will remain.
Thank you again. :) I love your blog.
Maybe the Boston folks should take a look at this video about rescued horses serving the public good in Hoboken. What price a crime deterrent that creates fond memories of ... the police?
For a scholarly take on the value of police horses, see Elizabeth Lawrence's Hoofbeats & Society, in which she chronicles why police horses are important in this day and age. It is too bad Lawrence is no longer living or she would have been the first to testify as to their importance.
Thank you all for your comments! I agree with the "A Bay Horse" about the positive image of the police in the community. I've written quite a bit about police horses and there is quite a body of information out there testifying to their benefits.
There was that incident recently, though, where a person was stepped on by a horse during a protest.
I'd rather be stepped on by a horse than tazered, though!
Kit: I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Lawrence's, glad to find someone else is too! I have that book...and you are so right that Dr Lawrence would be speaking out if she was only still with us!
Thanks to all!!
Fran Jurga
The Jurga Report
Why not partner with Suffolk Downs to help sponsor the unit? The City could even offer up sponsorhip to the general public like zoos do with their animals. There are ways around this. It'd be like the Public Gardeb losing the swan boats!
HI everyone, I'm the person who started the petition and I can't thank you enough for all the support, it has been great! Great article. Best, Nady Peters
I bet switching to more dogs and horses would save the BPD money. I talked to a prison guard in RI who said due to budget cuts prison guards are at a much higher risk of attack. He thought it would save money to have guards on horseback flanked by dogs.
Thanks for this great article! The unit is a vitally important branch of the Boston Police, a unique part of the city's heritage, and a joy and treasure as a reassuring and friendly presence in the city. It is *definitely* time to vote out the politicians if they go through with this decision, because they are clearly completely out of touch with Boston's residents, visitors, and values.
the Boston Police Commissioners name is Ed DAVIS, not Ed Lewis. You should probably fix that since you are directing people to contact him at HQ.
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