INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD is launching a new effort to increase mounted patrols throughout the city. It all started earlier this summer and by the end of the week the mounted patrols will have reached every district within IMPD’S patrol district.
“The horses are very popular,” said Corey Mims, IMPD’s Community Engagement Outreach Bureau Major. “People love the horses. They love to engage with the horses and pet the horses, and take pictures with them.”
IMPD’s mounted patrols are traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood helping to connect with the community in new ways.
“This allows officers to be more approachable in public and share with the community and interact with the community,” Mims said. “It allows for much like an icebreaker. It allows people to break down those barriers and see the officers on the mounted patrols as people. They are able to easily talk with them and engage with them.”
It takes the work of six horses and many dedicated mounted patrol officers to make it all happen.
Officers will patrol neighborhoods with recent criminal activity like Garfield Park where IMPD launched a homicide investigation earlier this week or areas they know will be extra busy like the farmer’s market at Monument Circle.
“Since early this summer, we’ve been out to almost every district to get out in the public, engage with the community, and it allows for the community members to share their thoughts about not only what’s going on in their neighborhood but citywide as well,” Mims said.
IMPD said the new expansion of these patrols makes it easier to engage with the public and learn from neighbors about problems in their communities.
“The horses make them feel more approachable, the officers more approachable, so people are more apt to come up to them and share information whereas if they see a police car roll down they may not want to or feel comfortable with doing that,” Mims said.
Going forward, the hope is to continue with the expansion while exploring new neighborhoods in the coming months.
“I am very excited that it’s continuing to expand and we can increase our footprint both figuratively and literally throughout the city of Indianapolis,” Mims said.
IMPD wants to hear from the community on where the mounted patrols should go next. There will be social media posts on IMPD News asking for feedback in the coming days.