Seattle Police Department Discontinues Mounted Patrol Unit

The Seattle Police Department is heartbroken that we have to make the very difficult decision to begin decommissioning our Mounted Patrol Unit over the next several months. The unit has a storied, 150-year legacy and has been utilized over the years for many different missions, including crowd control and patrolling city parks. However, over the past decade, due to lack of resources, the unit has been downsized and is primarily used for community events, ceremonies, and memorial services. The downsized mission of the unit has been made possible through supplemental funding from generous donations from individuals and organizations.

However, as SPD continues to recover from loss of hundreds of officers over the past four years, we have to carefully prioritize how to use existing scarce resources. The highest priority is maintaining the ability to respond quickly to emergency calls, and effectively investigate dangerous criminal behavior so the community is protected. This requires that we reduce resources for work that does not directly support these two priorities.

Maintaining a mounted patrol unit is complex and cannot be "started and stopped" as resources ebb and flow. The animals require and deserve a great deal of ongoing care, which requires expensive facilities, trainers and caretakers to ensure the health and well-being of the horses, even when they are not being used by police.

We recognize the deep and abiding relationships that so many inside and outside of SPD have developed over the years. We will be working to find a compassionate and meaningful transition for each of the animals. We hope that some of them might be used to serve the community in other ways, such as therapy horses. Former owners of the donated horses will be given the opportunity to take back ownership.