How Are Police Horses Trained
Much of a law enforcement equines training is focused on the psychological aspects of the job.
They are exposed to all manner of booming noises and strange sights, in addition to people of all ages.
Learning to cope with fireworks, smoke, gunfire, sirens, loud music, and shrieking children is all part of their desensitisation education.
Police horses are also taught to deal with unusual footing, manoeuvring through crowds without stepping on people, and walking through water and low-visibility situations.
Depending on where theyre being used, they may also learn jumping, cattle working, and other special skills.
Some departments have their own training programmes, whilst others send their horses out to various academies or bring in expert trainers from outside.
Typically, horses accepted on contingency for police work undergo an initial training period of at least several months.
If they pass the first round of tests, horses move on to further training and are eventually integrated into public settings.
They may be matched with one officer or put into a rotation for a variety of riders.
Both horse and rider start out in easier, less stressful jobs before they are assigned to scenarios like festivals or riot control.
The training becomes increasingly high-pressure to ensure the horse can handle stimuli like heavy traffic, construction noises, and even brigades of parents with baby prams.
Hi: What Is One Thing You Learned Or Know Now You Never Would Have Expected From This Job
SJE: With horses, you will never stop learning, but the biggest thing was how much patience is required to ride, train and work with horses. Communicating with horses is very much like speaking another language. I often compare it to this because I learned how to speak Spanish proficiently. In learning Spanish, I didnt go to a one-week school to become proficient it didnt happen overnight, it took patience, I had to be intentional about practicing it and I am still developing my skills today. The same can be said about riding because what you are doing is communicating with the horse in its own language.
Do You Need Maths And English To Be A Police Officer
The GCSEs you will need to become a police officer are similar to other professional careers. You need 5 GCSEs at Grade 4 or above. It is essential to gain qualifications in Maths, English Language and Science. All police officers must pass an initial recruitment test, including a fitness and educational test.
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Meeting The Basic Requirements
Hi: What Is The Most Difficult Part Of Your Job
SJE: The most difficult part of my job is keeping up with all the work that goes into taking care of a herd of horses. The horse is such a big and strong animal, but is incredibly fragile. Its a fine balance to keep their environment, medical needs and feed schedules on track. No matter how hard you work at this, there is always something unexpected that turns up.
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What Type Of Horses Are Chosen For Police Work
As you might expect, larger horses are generally preferred for mounted police work.
Sturdier breeds are desirable for working in unruly crowds, and they can handle long days under saddle.
Mounted units look for a combination of size, stamina, agility, and soundness when it comes to physical characteristics.
Draft horses, draft mixes, and other working breeds are particularly popular for police work. In Perth, Australia, Clydesdales and Percheron crosses are favoured.
The Houston Police Department in Texas also likes American Quarter Horses, Hanoverians, Tennessee Walkers, Dutch Warmbloods, and Thoroughbreds.
Few police departments run breeding programmes and instead prefer to source horses from their communities. In Baltimore, for instance, Amish farms are a common contributor of mounts to the Maryland-based department.
Some Baltimore horses were even rescues, after having been abandoned by previous owners.
Many police mounted departments rely on donations to get their horses. However, some are able to purchase horses using money made by impounding cash and goods during investigations.
Horses as young as two years are accepted by some units, and on the other end of the age spectrum, even 15-year-old mounts may be considered.
Typically, mares and geldings are chosen, and horses must pass a veterinary check for good health.
The temperament of a police horse is perhaps even more important than its breed or conformation.
Ability To Remain Calm
Police officers often deal with stressful situations, such as aggression from individuals or hostile crowds. A police officer needs to exercise self-control to enable them defuse situations calmly. Self-control is also important where an officer is armed as they have to determine when to deploy their weapon.
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Mounted Police Officer Skills & Competencies
Mounted police officers are law enforcement officers like any law enforcement officer, but working with a horse adds another layer to the skills they need.
- Athleticism: Officers need to be skilled riders, capable of covering rough terrain and possibly even tracking suspects at varying speeds. Additionally, officers involved in crowd control need to have expert control of the horses they ride in order to prevent injury to people nearby on foot.
- Love of animals: A mounted officer and a horse truly are partners and need to have a bond that includes complete trust and an ability to communicate as well as they can with one another.
- Communication skills: Because mounted police officers often are the face of a police force, whether in parades or presentations, they sometimes need to speak about what they do and answer questions from the public.
- Problem-solving: Mounted police officers are doing police work like any other officer and must be able to solve problems like any other officer.
Hi: What Is Your Background Where Are You From And Where Did You Go To School
SJE: I am from Middletown, Ohioits a smaller city between Cincinnati and Dayton. I went to school at Middletown High School and then attended several different colleges before I made up my mind what exactly I wanted to do for a living. I bounced from Wright State University with a Computer Science major, to Miami University where I was a business major, and then finally went to Eastern Kentucky University, where I majored in Criminal Justice. The last college was where I met a Lexington Police Officer at a job fair and applied for a job. I had heard horror stories of being an officer, that the pay was too little and the stress too high, so I tried to pick a different career. None of the other careers seemed to interest me enough, and I finally resolved to be what I always wanted to be: a police officer. That was 17 years ago now and I have served in many different capacities in the police force. I have always truly loved my job and enjoy going to work each day.
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Education Training & Certification
The first step in becoming a mounted officer is qualifying as a regular police officer. This generally involves six months of police academy training before moving on to a probationary period as a new officer. After about three years of service, an officer can apply for a specialty unit such as the mounted police, provided a position is available.
- Education: Before police academy training, it is generally preferable for police officers to get a four-year college degree with a major in criminal justice or a similar field.
- Training:Preparing for a mounted unit can last anywhere from three to six months. Officers generally take regular riding lessons as well as attend training clinics put on by top instructors. Mounted police specialty training can include courses in equitation, horsemanship, equine behavior, equine anatomy and physiology, advanced crowd control techniques, and search and rescue training. The U.S. Park Police Horse Mounted Unit in Washington, D.C., offers a highly respected training program that requires more than 400 hours of intense instruction. U.S. Park Police instructors often travel to provide their extensive training program to other police departments across the country, and they also provide training at police seminars and related events. In addition, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police travels the U.S. providing similar training courses.
Why Not Think About The Royal Military Police
Because it’s so hard to get into the mounted police and since the force is not replacing any mounted police who are due to retire, there is however another option you may like to think about. Another area where you would work and ride horses would be with the Royal Military Police but again you would be up against a lot of competition and you would need the necessary qualifications to even be considered.
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How To Become A Canadian Police Officer
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If you’re a Canadian considering a career in policing, you have the opportunity to join the national police force called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or join a provincial police force. Each Canadian law enforcement agency has its own requirements and standards for police recruits, but you will see some basic requirements across the agencies. Once the agency has verified you meet all the requirements, the recruit will need to complete an extensive hiring process to become a Canadian police officer.
Which Countries Use Police Horses
Mounted police can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
They are particularly prevalent in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, but you can also find working units in countries as diverse as Barbados, Finland, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.
Some, such as in Belgium, are an extension of the federal police or royal escort.
In Latin America and Italy, its not uncommon to find mounted police under the auspices of the military, and mounted police are a part of the national culture.
In fact, some Italian equestrians sport police and military uniforms when representing their country in international FEI competition.
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How Much Money Does A Mounted Police Officer Earn A Year
Mounted police officers provide police departments with a more visible and flexible way for patrolling streets and crowds. These officers can pursue suspects more quickly and interact better with people, dissolving typical social barriers. Most work in crowded venues, including downtown and at parks, parades, fairs and large sporting events. They earn above-average salaries.
How Long Does It Take To Become A Police Officer In Toronto
It takes about 24 weeks of training package to complete the prescribed police training and become sworn in as a 4th class constable in Toronto Police Service. Included in the training program are neighbourhood policing, investigative training, driving, firearms, and defensive tactics. New recruits begin training in a three-week orientation at the Toronto Police College as a cadet-in-training. Upon the completion of orientation classes, cadets-in-training pursue a 12-week session in Aylmer, Ontario, CA at the Ontario Police college, followed by 9 weeks training at the Toronto Police College.
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The Roles Of Our Mounted Police
Mounted policing has re-emerged as an extremely relevant way of policing in the 21st century. The Mounted section offers a unique policing service throughout the State of Western Australia, and covers the largest policing jurisdiction in the world. The section deploys to Metro and Regional WA, deploying as far as Broome in the Kimberleys, east to the Kalgoorlie Goldfields and south to Albany.
The police horse is unique in that it provides an officer with an excellent 360 degree view of his surroundings from a greater height than a foot officer, with the added advantage of being able to manoeuvre the highly trained horse in confined areas, in crowds and able to cover ground quickly. This provides the officer with a highly effective way of policing in sometimes a volatile and dangerous environment.
Generally our roles can be summarised as:
- Responding to anti-social behaviour issues in Perths nightspots
- High visibility and targeted patrols throughout WA
- Searches for missing persons, particuarly in areas where Officers are unable to efficiently search on foot or vehicle, such as Bush land.
- Beach patrols at known trouble spots
- Highly mobile responses to out of control gatherings, protests, demonstrations and riots
- Limited ceremonial duties such as the Anzac Day Parade, Police recruit graduation parades and VIP escorts
Things You Didnt Know About Torontos Mounted Police Unit
Heres a behind-the-scenes look at T.O. officers on horseback and their trusty steeds
A few weeks ago, Jill and Fred were hanging out near the base of the CN Tower when they were approached by a tourist from Scotland. Next came a four-year-old with his parents in tow. See, when one person comes up, more people come up, says Jillwho is officially known as Police Constable Jillian Finley-Kellough, of Torontos Mounted Police Unit. We can barely walk down the street without someone stopping us to say, Can I pat your horse?
The horse in question would be Fred, whose official title is First Responder. And the answer is pretty much always yes.
Finley-Kellough has been an officer with the Toronto Police Service for 17 years, first in a patrol car, then on a bike, now on horseback. But Fred, a friendly, five-year-old black Percheron cross with a white stripe down his nose, has only been with the Unit for just over a year. Hes still in training and its Finley-Kelloughs job to guide him, along with the rest of the horses and riders in the Mounted Unitwhich is not something she thought shed be doing when she first joined the force.
15 interesting tidbits about Torontos Mounted Police Unit
Number of horses in the Unit: 25, give or take
Number of officers: Approximately 40
Number of Canadian cities that have a mounted unit: Seven.
The horses live at the Ex. The Mounted Unit hangs out in the Horse Palace at the C.N.E.
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Potential Disqualifiers For A Policing Career In Canada
When preparing yourself for a policing career, you need to be aware of what will disqualify you from the police application process. As far as the written, physical, and medical exams, the requirements are fairly consistent across all agencies.
Language Disqualifier: You need to be fluent in either English or French including being able to speak, read, and understand one of these languages.
Physical Disqualifier: You cannot be in poor physical condition. Failure to successfully complete the physical examination in the minimum time frame is an automatic disqualification.
Test particulars can vary from one police agency to the next. However, all tests simulate critical incidents that police officers are exposed to. For example. the Physical Abilities Requirement Evaluation , used by the RCMP, consists of three sections:
Psychological Disqualifiers: A candidate can be disqualified if they do not meet the minimum psychological examination requirements.
Work Environment Disqualifiers: Police departments require you to work shift work which includes nights, evenings, weekends, and holidays as policing takes place 24 hours per day. If you are unwilling to accommodate this type of work schedule, you will be disqualified from the process.
Detroit Police Officer Requirements
The Detroit Police Department is responsible for ensuring the public safety of the citys residents and visitors. To join the DPD, potential law enforcement officers must:
- Be 18 years of age
- Possess a valid drivers license
- Have a high school diploma or GED
- Have no felony convictions
Qualified candidates who meet these requirements must first apply to the department and then register for and pass the MCOLES Pre-Employment Reading and Writing test and the MCOLES Physical Fitness Test. Next, candidates attend an applicant orientation. In the next stage, prospective cops will also have to undergo a background investigation and complete an oral board interview. Candidates still in the selection process will next complete a psychological exam and a medical exam. Successful applicants will then be offered conditional employment and a place in an upcoming police academy class.
For more information about becoming a law enforcement officer in a big city like Detroit, check out 10 Steps to Becoming a Police Officer on our home page. For information on the full hiring process, visit the DPD website.
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