  Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 3 Registered: 08-2007 |
Who has memories of the Detroit Police Mounted Section? In the heyday of Detroit they had barns at Belle Isle, Rouge Park, Chandler Park and Palmer Park. | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 274 Registered: 03-2007 |
Officer Robert Abbott lived across the street from us on Fordham Ave...he was a member of the Mounted Division. Later he was was promoted to Sgt. or Lieu. at the Fifth Precinct. That was in the late '50's or early '60's. My dad was a patrol officer working out of the Connor St. (#15) station...he retired after 26 years in 1950. | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 111 Registered: 05-2006 |
Goblue- Did your dad ever work out of Hunt St, or Canfield? | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 112 Registered: 05-2006 |
I think there was a stable downtown on Bethune? | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 2644 Registered: 06-2004 |
I remember them at the parade, both in it and working the crowd, and on Belle Isle. I think they were also at the ethnic festivals before Hart Plaza was built. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 5810 Registered: 11-2004 |
There was a police stable over on Custer, one block east of Woodward at one point- just north of Grand Blvd.. Detroit's mounted patrols were famous. I had even heard that they earned such praise & prestige that Teddy Roosevelt sent people over to train & observe them back in the day. They do provide a great presence and great for PR. I wish the Detroit cops would bring them back again. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 1932 Registered: 11-2003 |
I recall taking our boy scout troop down to the stables (Bethune) when the mounted police were a real presence and a going concern. A neat field trip. There was a lawyer in the Guardian Building ( Hoffa's law partner) who raised a few horses on his farm in Charlevoix and he would donate a horse or two to the MP. Right you are , smogboy. Those beautiful horses were a real class act, served a very useful purpose, a great p.r. role for the police department, and really topped off the Hudson's Parade. | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 277 Registered: 03-2007 |
Cal: I think my dad might have worked out of Hunt St. real early in his career for a short time...that would have been in the mid-20's...he was at the 15th for 20 years. He joined the DPD in 1924...he was 20 but lied about his age...he had enlisted in the army when he was 16. Those DPD horses were not only great P.R....they were also great at crowd control...not many people will stand up to a charging horse. My wife and I ride in the wilderness here in AZ...both of us know how to use a horse as a weapon...they're trained to spin...and kick...I worry more about the two-legged animals than I do mountain lions or bears. (Message edited by GoBlue on August 25, 2007) | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11663 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wayne County Sheriff came riding down Monroe Street yesterday afternoon on 4 horses. Pretty cool sight to see. | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 5813 Registered: 11-2004 |
Even beyond the protection presence offered by seeing a police officer on horseback, I think the accessability of those officers to mingle with the public is so key. They actually talk to people and interact even though they're on horseback. We'll probably never see the days of a cop walking a beat anymore but then I'm not exactly a fan of police officers being so distant and aloof where they don't instill some trust either. I think the officer on horseback can and should be a middle ground for reaching out to the public again. Too often are police officers just stuck in their squad cars and not people friendly- unless they're needed. I don't even see the mounted patrols as a luxury item for our city either. I see them performing multiple tasks (crowd control, PR, police presence, etc.) whereas our regular car patrol officers just can't do by themselves. Bring back the mounted patrols! | ||
Goblue Member Username: Goblue Post Number: 278 Registered: 03-2007 |
I agree with you Smogboy...mounted officers can be in that middle ground...horses are a natural draw especially for city people who don't get to see one up close or to pet them...hold a slice of apple out to a horse and he'll be your friend for life...that contact creates a friendly interaction between the officer and the public. I don't live in Detroit anymore...or even Michigan...does Detroit have bicycle officers? | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 5828 Registered: 11-2004 |
If Detroit's got bicycle cops I don't ever recall seeing them but that's not to say we don't have them. But I think that's the appeal of a mounted patrol even over bike cops... you can't exactly easily ditch the bike to make an arrest without fear that someone else is going to swipe the bike from you. I defy a criminal to try taking off with a mounted patrol officer's horse! | ||
Eric_w Member Username: Eric_w Post Number: 302 Registered: 02-2007 |
I visited the barns at Rouge Park a number of times. When attending the state fair one of the hi-lights seeing the drill team perform. Always loved it. Saw them a lot patrolling Rouge Park when I lived in Detroit. Sometimes I saw a mounted officer on Fenkell ( rarely ) | ||
Craig Member Username: Craig Post Number: 289 Registered: 02-2007 |
Used to see mounted officers "riding" in the curb lanes of Grand River in the area near Lahser, and up and down Cass. I too, have heard that the real purpose was crowd control: big animals wheeling and moving sideways were (legend says) used to move back a lot of unruly crowds and demonstrators. Today's "mounted" can often be seen, very early in the morning, tanking up with Starbucks' coffee at the Buhl Building location. They wear shorts and come across as intimidating as Pee Wee Herman on his bike. | ||
Pamequus Member Username: Pamequus Post Number: 132 Registered: 07-2005 |
Back in the 60s I remember them at the Cooley/Redford football games. Big Rivalry, often producing some violence so the horses patrolled to keep things in line. | ||
Korridorkid Member Username: Korridorkid Post Number: 92 Registered: 01-2005 |
I work with a retired Detroit Mounted Police Officer-Mike L.- and the stories he tells are unbelievable. The '67 riots, the Republican National Convention, the Tigers "hullabaloo" in '84--crowd control at it's finest. He worked at the Belle Isle stables for many years and at the stables on Bethune. According to him, they often just parked their horses in certain parking garages downtown which often had hitching posts or rings embedded in the concrete, and go take a break. (Some are still there from what he told me.) During one of the Downtown Hoedowns, some cowboys decided to joyride a bit on their horses...and returned them without a problem. He wasn't amused. A link to Mike's article in the Metro Times (2002) http://www.metrotimes.com/edit orial/story.asp?id=4139 And if your interested in the Mounted Police remaining in Michigan, link here---> http://www.motorcityhorseforce .org/ | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 28 Registered: 08-2007 |
It might be Mike Lesperance. | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 3064 Registered: 12-2005 |
7 deputies graduate to mounted unit | ||
Soomka1 Member Username: Soomka1 Post Number: 34 Registered: 02-2007 |
My grandpa was with the Wayne County Sheriffs Department and he knew the guys in charge of the Rouge Park Stable in the 60's. He used to take me down there with my brother when we were kids and we got to check out the horses. That was about as close to being in the country as it got for us. | ||
Sharms Member Username: Sharms Post Number: 24 Registered: 07-2007 |
I remember many trips downtown to Hudson's with my mom as a kid and my day being complete when I saw the mounted police atop their horses. I also remember the gigantic traffic cops near Hudson's keeping the traffic flowing. When you're a kid things look bigger than life and those cops...on the street and on horseback were overwhelming. |
