ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For decades, the Albuquerque Police Department has tried a lot of different ideas to tackle downtown crime. Now, the department said their Horse Mounted Unit is making a difference. So far this year, APD said they’ve tracked 48 arrests using the Horse Mounted Unit, including one early Saturday morning. The unit is getting credit for a positive trend they’ve seen since the fall. “We’ve seen a decline in some of the categories of crime to include aggregated assault, burglaries, robberies,” said Commander Jose Sanchez, APD.
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Typically, they’ll use anywhere between four to six horses at a time, each teamed with a specially trained officer. The unit is often used downtown on Friday nights and Sunday mornings, or if there is a group drawing a crowd, as they are often used for crowd control. “It’s a very unique unit that comes to the downtown area to provide a really good support. The reason we use them is one, the officers on horseback have a better vantage point of the crowds in the downtown area,” said Sanchez.
Officers said the horses are a force that’s hard to ignore, often getting people to clear out of the way quickly, whether it’s the street or sidewalk. “People get a little intimidated by seeing a large animal in the downtown area, which helps maintain the unruly individuals out of the area and with crowd control,” said Sanchez.
APD said they are also continuing to bring the unit out to other community outreach-type events like the upcoming New Mexico State Fair and Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta…