When you think of the Texas Wild West, thoughts of cowboy hats, lawmen, and horses are among the first things that come to mind, and in Fort Worth, this tradition is still very much alive today.
While Dallas prides itself on being a high-tech city, boasting nearly 70,000 millionaires and professional sports teams in all major leagues, Lt. Michael Brown of the Fort Worth Police Department describes his city, just 30 miles west of Dallas, as “A large city, with a small-town feel.”
At the heart of Fort Worth, Texas, lies the Fort Worth Stockyards, a time capsule of the Wild West, where brick streets, real-life saloons, daily Longhorn cattle drives, and the fragrance of leather permeate the Texas air.
Just a few blocks from the stockyards are everyday businesses you would expect to find anywhere in the Lone Star State: Mexican restaurants, nail salons, apartment buildings, and chain restaurants. It was while walking outside one of these normal businesses on my first visit to Fort Worth that I first laid eyes on the most Texan thing I had ever seen: a law enforcement officer wearing cowboy boots with spurs, topped with a cowboy hat, riding on the back of a horse down the bustling city street.
Fascinated by what I had seen, I dug deeper into the role and purpose of Fort Worth’s law enforcement officers on horseback and learned some amazing details.
For starters, the Fort Worth officers who serve on horseback are part of the Mounted Patrol Unit of the Specialized Operations Section. They were established in 1972 to provide positive interaction with the community, assist in crime reduction activities, serve in crowd control, and embody the “Cowtown” spirit and rich history of the City of Fort Worth, under the motto, “No terrain too tough, No task too rough.”
Over the course of the last 52 years, however, the mission of the unit has evolved from law enforcement to community relations.
Sgt. David DeLeon, of the Mounted Patrol Unit, says, “Our mission has changed throughout the years; in the early days, the mounted unit’s scope was more arrests; now the mission is community relations and building bridges with the public.”
“Even though they’re large animals and can be somewhat intimidating, they remove a barrier between the public and the officer and allow people to see a softer side of police officers,” he said, adding, “The horses make us approachable to the public, and people love it.”
These days, you won’t find officers of the Mounted Patrol Unit making arrests or hauling a fugitive to the station, but instead they often serve in parades, give demonstrations at area schools, assist and participate in the Fort Worth Stockyards Cattle Drive, and serve in funerals and memorial services.
The unit consists of 1 Lieutenant, 1 Sergeant, 6 Officers, and 1 civilian Equine Care Specialist. The authorized strength of this unit is 9 officers.
In total, 17 horses are assigned to different officers within the unit.
When asked if officers who serve in the unit must have previous equine experience, both Brown and DeLeon agreed that they don’t, stating, “It’s actually preferable that our trainees don’t have previous experience with horses, because a lot of times trainees will bring bad [horseback riding] habits along with them.”
It’s not all fun and games, however, for the unit, as the animals’ special maneuverability enables them to be effective in searching rugged terrain for lost or deceased persons.
With a love for the animals, the Fort Worth Police Department has a policy of keeping them inside on days when the heat index exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The next time you’re in Cowtown, be on the lookout for officers and horses of the Fort Worth Mounted Patrol Unit and say hello.
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