Vancouver police on horseback is so 2008.
The Friends of the Vancouver Mounted Police board voted to disband and donate the organization’s remaining funds to three local charities. The organization helped officers in the now-inactive unit pay for equipment, saddles, blankets and training for their horses.
The board on Tuesday donated $5,430 to the Vancouver Police Activities League. It will donate the same amounts to the Clark County Executive Horse Council and The Silver Buckle Youth at Risk program.
Vancouver police’s mounted unit was a collateral duty, meaning officers had other full time responsibilities in the department and worked for the unit as needed. Each officer was required to buy, house and care for his or her own horse.
Cmdr. Dave King was in the unit from 1998 to 2006. He had three horses while on the unit — two cost him $3,500 each. He also bought a truck and horse trailer during that time. He said it was a big commitment of time and money to be on the team. The Friends of the Vancouver Mounted Police helped ease the financial situation, he said.
The police unit was made inactive in 2009 due to budget constraints and staffing shortages, said Kim Kapp, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Police Department. With the current budget, “the likelihood that they will become active again is pretty small,” she said.
Cutting the unit was common sense with the department facing budget constraints, said Ginger Metcalf, board member of the Friends of the Vancouver Mounted Police. At the same time, she thinks it’s sad the city is losing out on something that adds ambiance to the community.
“It’s one of those nice warm fuzzies we’d like to have, but financially it doesn’t pencil out at this time,” she said.
It’s more than just a throwback to an earlier time and a nice thing to see. Police officers can see more of their surroundings on the back of a horse than from the ground or in a patrol car, Metcalf said. The horses also add a level of intimidation.
She’s not throwing in the towel on the future of police horses in Vancouver. She hopes when the economy improves the unit could be reactivated or another source of funding could be found for the equine officers. If the unit is reactivated, the Friends of the Vancouver Mounted Police will be first ones in line to support them, she said.
Paul Suarez: 360-735-4522; http://www.twitter.com/col_cops; paul.suarez@columbian.com.
