
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 11, 1993                   TAG: 9305110520
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MOUNTED POLICE

THE ROANOKE VALLEY is a horse-loving community. Though a good way from Virginia's blue-nosey "horse country" south of the Washington suburbs, valley residents can take pride that they host one of the most successful horse events on the East Coast - the annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show.

Horse enthusiasts, and others, presumably will welcome the news that downtown Roanoke - like Richmond, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach - will soon have a couple of mounted police officers.

This addition to the downtown's attractions has long been urged by Downtown Roanoke, Inc., on the basis of the pluses horseback patrols have brought to other cities.

Mounted police, it's said, have a degree of maneuverability and, from horseback-height, have a vision advantage over police on foot or in patrol cars. This, other cities have found, gives them an effectiveness edge in controlling crowds and responding to trouble at special events, such as Roanoke's Festival in the Park, that bring masses of people into the downtown area.

There is also the side benefit of public relations. Because most people admire horses, mounted police seem to give a kinder, gentler image to city police departments.

Downtown Roanoke, Inc. and other private sources have offered to pay the start-up costs - about $23,000 - to put a couple of city police officers into the saddle. City Council has agreed to the deal.

Fine. But City Council should keep the agreement on an experimental basis for a good while. Year-after-year costs of keeping and caring for the animals - not to mention cleaning up after them - may be hard to justify to taxpayers if or when the city is expected to foot the entire bill.

Also, the law-enforcement advantages of mounted police have yet to be proved here. One key question, for example, is whether the special events for which there may be an advantage are frequent enough in Roanoke to warrant the extra costs.

The private backers are to be commended for making it possible to test the idea. But city officials should put the cart before the horse - making sure of cost-effectiveness and need before committing public money to it.

by CNB