Mounted units help local law enforcement

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When Capt. Bryan Miller is involved in a police chase, he begins not by flooring the gas of a cop car, but by urging his horse into a gallop.

Miller is one of 18 members of the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit.

The deputies and their horses work throughout the county at events such as the Ingham County Fair and on MSU’s campus during Saturday football games.

Although Miller said the groups had begun to do more law enforcement under current Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth, the members of the unit are considered special deputies, and only have limited authority.

The East Lansing Police Department uses the calvary for crowd control in various situations to clear streets and direct foot traffic during busy times.

“When four to five horses come down the road, people get out of the road,” said Ingham County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Joel Maatman.

East Lansing Police Chief Tom Wibert said the ELPD uses mounted officers during busier times of the year, including football games, during the NCAA Tournament and Fall Welcome. Being on horseback allows officers to move around better and have more control of students in the streets, Wibert said.

“A huge animal like a horse coming at you sideways — they can move a few hundred people out of the street in a few minutes,” Wibert said.

“The officers are up high and have a better view on what is going on.”

The unit, which consists entirely of volunteers who have undergone training, also provides public relation services for the sheriff’s department, marching in parades and allowing people to pet the horses at certain events.

“Personally, the law enforcement end of it is interesting to me,” Miller said.
“I like helping people. When a child comes up at the fair and they need some help, I can help find their parents, things like that.”

The unit was initially established more than 50 years ago by Sheriff Willard P. Barnes to supplement the road patrol at the time.

In 1985, the unit began to charge fees for events they were hired for and donated the funds to charity, often a children’s group or a food bank, Miller said.

Since then, the unit has donated about $500,000 to charity.

Today, it is one of five volunteer units with the Ingham County Sheriff’s Office, said Maatman.
“They’re an arm of public relations for the sheriff’s office,” Maatman said. “They spread the good work of the sheriff’s office. We’re spread too thin with law enforcement jobs that have been cut. (The mounted unit) does the thing that we used to do but we can’t.”

Horses in the mounted unit undergo a test to ensure they will be able to handle the noise and chaos that often comes with larger crowds.

Still, Miller said working with a live animal has its challenges.

“Instead of a vehicle or something inanimate, we’re working with something that has a brain,” Miller said. “They have moods just like people. … Sometimes they don’t want to cooperate so that can be difficult sometimes.”

Psychology sophomore Shane Hoffman has seen the mounted unit several times around campus. He said using the horses is less effective compared to other officers patrolling with cars.

“If something was happening, they couldn’t get around fast enough,” Hoffman said.

Miller said the mounted unit was not the ideal police unit in all situations, but he had been able to catch people who attempted to run from the cops. Once someone is apprehended, a cop car is called to complete the arrest.

“Sometimes there have been fights,” Miller said.

“We have our radio. They call it out on the radio and we kick the horse into high gear and they go. … I’ve had people try to run from us before, try to run for me. It’s tough to outrun a horse.”

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