September 6, 2006

San Jose Police Mounted Unit celebrates 20th anniversary

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

There’s only one crook that could stop a 10-foot cop with 20 years veteran experience under his belt—whoever sets San Jose budget constraints.

The San Jose Police Department will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its fan favorite Mounted Unit this fall with friends. The nonprofit organization Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit, founded by former San Jose vice mayor legislative aide Denelle Fedor, is dedicated to preserving the horse patrol in the nation’s tenth largest city.

Two anniversary events are scheduled in the coming weeks.

The first is “Hoofing It For Kids’ Safety,” to take place Sept. 23 across the street from the Shark Tank at the Arena Garden downtown, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The event will feature fingerprinting booths, car seat demonstrations, art tables, jump houses and goodie bags for children. Kids are also welcome to meet the police horses that help officers sit tall and fight crime.

The second is a golf tournament Oct. 23.

“The mounted unit is effective because you have police officers that are 10 feet tall,” said Fedor.

While police officers on horseback began in San Jose as the only answer to fighting crime on the move during the 1800s, the unit was shut down entirely for some time in the early 20th century. It was resurrected as a volunteer program in 1970 and continued as such until former Police Chief Joe McNamara raised a reported $100,000 in the local business community to formally reinstate the program in 1986.

It was fully funded between then and 2000, when, according to Fedor, the budget was chopped in half.

The unit is preserved, however, based on many needs, including crowd control and public relations on the street.
“You have someone people can see and it makes them feel safe,” said Fedor. “It helps the community members feel like they are friends with the police unit. If eight officers arrive in a car, there is likely something wrong. But if it’s eight on a horse, something is good. People are willing to talk to police officers when they are on a horse.”

Fedor acts as president of FSJMU, assembled in 2005 to support the needs of police officers and the horses that carry them in the San Jose Mounted Unit.

The city’s tallest and friendliest unit of crime stoppers has been heartily affected by the budget cuts. According to the group’s Web site, www.sjmu.org, Friends of the San Jose Mounted Unit aims to preserve, maintain and promote the San Jose Police Department’s Mounted Unit by engaging in public outreach and fund-raising.

Yet, Police Chief Rob Davis remains confident that the Mounted Unit is healthily intact in San Jose, regardless of whether the budget has become more restrictive or not. “The mounted unit is invaluable in terms of providing additional tools and resources in handling the crowd at events. People see the horses high above them. In unruly crowds, the mounted unit has proven to be very effective.”

Davis said that maintaining the Mounted Unit is indeed a worthy cause. “We get more positive comments from [officers on] horses and bikes downtown than anything else,” he said. “People like it. Residents, tourists and others comment how safe they feel.”

“Police can’t measure preventative success,” said Fedor, noting the value of officers on hoof. “Sometimes people are upset because there are too many police officers downtown. [With the Mounted Unit], citizens feel safe, but not threatened by a police presence.”

Call (408) 450-UNIT (8648) for more information.