On patrol with Calgary's mounted police, 'the smallest unit with the biggest impact'

Motorists and shoppers in Forest Lawn were surprised to seeCalgary's hoofed crime-fighters at work this week.

The Calgary Police Service'smounted unit, a specialty team of horses and officers, patrolled International Avenue onWednesday afternoon.

The unit includes Const. Rob MacLeodand Maverick, the horse.

"We're just like every other police officer that's out there, so we're out doingenforcement but, at the same time, a byproduct of that is public relations and positive public relations,"MacLeodsaid.

"We get citizens coming up to us all the time that just want apicture or just want to say hi or ask us a question."

The unit, which was formed in 1978, is normally a team of four, but at the moment is composed of two mounted officers after a routine procedure led to fatal complications for Ranger the horse.

RobinKoltusky, the facilities and animal careco-ordinatorwith the Calgary Police mounted unit, joinedMacLeodand another officer on Wednesday, training a horse namedVimy.

• Calgary's mounted patrol: A unique kind of policing

Horses in the unit have to have "a sensible mind and a solid body," Koltusky said.

"We don't want any spook. The littlest flight reaction possible is ideal, because the stimulus in the city is constant."

The team pulled over a driver who wasn't wearing a seatbelt. After being givena ticket and two warnings for other offences,the driver yelled an expletive and sped off.

Such a reaction is rare, MacLeod said.

"The horses ...they seem to soften the situation and put people a little more at ease, and it gives them a good story to tell," he said.

"When you're driving around in a police car, when you're walking a beat, you don't normally see that side. People won't just walk up to the side of your police car and want to say 'hi' and take your picture.

"I've heard it said we're the smallest unit with the biggest impact. That's very true."

MacLeod credits the horses, calling them the "stars of the show."

"Without them, we wouldn't have the interactions that we do," he said.

"These guys soften people and they bring out the best in people."

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