Giving back to your community: Citizens Mounted Patrol
by Sgt. Alan John

Jackson Wyoming is a tourist community with a resident population of 8,000. Our average daily population in the summer ranges from 60,000-80,000 people a day. Our town like many others does not have a ready reserve of police officers to tap on the shoulder to work for just the summer months. We rely on volunteers.

What is a Citizen Mounted Unit? It is a group of volunteers that put themselves through police certified training to properly prepare horses and riders for downtown mounted patrol. Volunteers can be utilized by police departments for traffic control, public contact posts or an extra set of eyes and ears in a busy commercial district. Citizens have witnessed automobile crashes, medical emergencies and crimes in progress. Volunteers are equipped with radios and trained when and how to use them. Additionally the police department provides basic uniform shirts and hats.

The goals of the citizens mounted program benefit the rider, the police department, and the community. The riders get to be involved in the policing of their community. The get to establish relationships of trust with local police officers who, they may or may not have ever met before. They share frustrations after directing traffic or blocking an intersection, the rider begins to take ownership and care about the community.

The officers gain by the same relationships. Officers lose the “us against them” mentality. Officers make contacts with citizens who may witness crimes or share experiences they have had in the community.

The department and the community benefit by having a greater police presence. Additionally the officers are less fatigued officers from working overtime at traffic details and special events, and a cost savings of manpower overtime funds through the use of volunteers.

The program is a win/win all the way around.

What skills do a mounted patrol horse and rider team need? The skills most necessary within the team are a basic understanding of the role, a safe horse and a competent rider. Common sense prevails when out on the street, the interesting thread is that it is necessary that the horsemanship be second nature. Volunteers are going to be under stress directing traffic and or answering questions. They must have complete control and trust in their mount at all times.

What is the training like? The training is 40 hours and puts perspective volunteers through all the same paces that a sworn officer must experience. Tarps, lights, sirens, whistles and fireworks are just the beginning. Formation riding, crowd control techniques and lessons in traffic direction and moving barricades and cones keep the trainee busy while challenging them both physically and mentally.

The program at our agency has been successfully copied at other agencies nationally. The ratings from the community are high.

If you would like more information on the Citizen's Mounted Unit, call or email Sgt. Alan John. 307.733.1430 ajohn@ci.jackson.wy.us