Mounted Unit
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Mounted Police unit, established in 1989, has had up to three active members since it began. The UW Mounted Patrol unit works in conjunction with other mounted officers from various police departments from Dane County and around the state in a variety of different assignments.
If you happen to attend a Badger Football game at Camp
Randall Stadium, you will undoubtedly see two to six mounted police officers
carrying out diverse duties such as crowd control, escorts for ambulances,
buses, and VIP vehicles, assistance with arrests and ejections from the Stadium,
providing information and directions to fans, and of course, being continuously
surrounded by admiring children and their parents. Horses are very useful in
crowd situations, due to the height advantage of a mounted officer being able to
see and be seen, and the ability of a horse to move through almost any crowd
where it may be difficult or impossible for a squad car to go.
Although most people find the well-trained horses to be an attraction from a public relations standpoint, they are very effective when it becomes necessary to move a person or even a crowd of people. In addition to Badger Football, the UWMP regularly assists other area police departments at crowd events as well as patrolling campus areas which are mostly inaccessible by squad car, such as the UW Arboretum and Picnic Point.
Horses are considered to be the most perceptive mammals, and are second only to elephants for their memory. Although one of their strongest instincts is to flee from contentious situations, these tendencies are taken into account during the rigorous training methods that form the basis of a good police mount. The horses are taught to trust their riders, to work well with other horses, and to work through their natural fear and tolerate everything from gun shots, loud bands, and lights and sirens to fireworks to baby strollers and children around their feet. A good police horse must be people oriented with a calm nature and a desire to please. In 2006 UW Sergeant Kari Sasso became the coordinator of the mounted unit. With the assistance of other mounted officers in Dane County, she coordinates training and logistics for Badger home football games.
If you would like to know more about mounted policing or how to become a mounted police officer, please contact Lt. Sasso at e-mail: ksasso@wisc.edu.
