Cost Effectiveness of Worcester Mounted Police

Are Mounted Patrols Needed and Cost Effective?

A mounted officer’s  crowd control

At a recent Worcester Human Rights Commission meeting regarding the policies of the Worcester Police Department the representatives from the Police said that the mounted patrols are not evaluated for policing effectiveness or cost. Formerly published statements from the Police Chief Sargant and City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. set  the goals of the mounted patrols as: neighborhood patrol, crowd control, and public relations.

 

Worcester Human Rights Meeting

There is some anecdotal evidence that the horses are good ambassadors for the City.

The City Manager and the Police Chief want us to believe there is no costs to the taxpayers for the mounted patrols. This is counter intuitive as Boston has eliminated its mounted patrols due to the high costs and the relative ineffectiveness in achieving policing goals.

The horses are stabled at the County Jail and facilities’ costs are born by the County Jail and inmate labor. When the mounted patrols first started,  $25,000 for each of four horses were donated by private businesses. Because there is no evaluation, it is not certain to me whether these donations have continued.

It is certainty that there are at least seven police officers assigned to the mounted patrol unit and four horses. In addition there are two trucks and two trailers. These officers and vehicles have a cost to the taxpayer. Seven times $50,000 minimum salary is $350,000.

Worcester horse trailer

The mounted patrols of the Worcester Police are not publicly evaluated nor does it seem to be any internal evaluations. The horse patrols do not seem effective for community policing which is the official policy of the Worcester Police Department. Who can community police when sitting 12 feet in the air? It is not clear in what neighborhoods the mounted patrols are used if any.

In terms of crowd control the history has been that horses are used against Black and other working class people since the times of the slave patrols. It does not seem that the Worcester mounted patrols have ever engaged in any serious crowd control.

Anti-Trump rally in Long Island

It is surprising that not one City Councillor is questioning the effectiveness of the mounted patrols in achieving policing goals. Several years ago I used to commute to Boston with the City’s Mayor Petty. He is by all measures a liberal democrat and a decent man, but he is also a strong proponent of the horses.

It might be the case that the mounted patrols are needed and cost effective. No one in the City can make that claim as there has been no evaluation ever of the Worcester’s Calvary.