Friday, March 29, 2024

Football is back and so are mounted officers

September 13, 2015
<p>Ingham County Sheriff Deputy Steve Law and his horse, Jazz, await departure Sept. 11, 2015 outside of the East Lansing Police Department on 409 Park Lane. Law said he "hopes this weekend is safe, fun and successful". Alice Kole/The State News</p>

Ingham County Sheriff Deputy Steve Law and his horse, Jazz, await departure Sept. 11, 2015 outside of the East Lansing Police Department on 409 Park Lane. Law said he "hopes this weekend is safe, fun and successful". Alice Kole/The State News

Photo by Alice Kole | The State News

These horses are brought in by the Ingham County Sheriff Department during Welcome Week and large-scale campus events as a means of rambunctious student crowd control.

Lt. Dennis Hall heads the Ingham County Mounted Unit and says he feels that horses are a much gentler means of crowd control compared to “ten officers in riot gear."

These large animals are certainly intimidating to the average nightcrawler at MSU and have little difficulty breaking up civil disorders, Hall continued.

However, they are absolutely not intended to deliberately scare the public, he said.

"It’s not as intimidating as a cop car, I think it’s a little more friendly"

“It’s not as intimidating as a cop car, I think it’s a little more friendly,” business freshman Christa Wilczewski said.

That being said, the animals must display a “series of proficiencies” in order to be worthy of a spot in the mounted unit, Hall said. They must not frighten easy and need to be completely obedient to the officers in command.

The horses have “personal relationships” with the officers, Hall added, because they are owned and cared for by the deputies themselves, from feeding to training.

Officers in the mounted unit make no financial gain from patrolling and actually volunteer their time and beloved animals to the safety of students around campus.

The Ingham County Mounted Unit helps the community in more ways than just their duties as officers of the law.

Cpt. Brian Miller and his horse Danno have been patrolling for nine years together, while Miller has been on horseback for the Ingham County Sheriff Department for a total of 18 years.

Miller loves to patrol the streets of East Lansing he said, because he donates everything he makes that night to various charities in the Lansing area.

His favorite organization is one that helps raise children in impoverished situations. It gives him a “good feeling” to not only donate his time and commitment to the safety of the community, but also make donations to other noble causes, all while riding magnificent creatures, he said.

One thing Hall does ask the students of MSU and the residents of East Lansing is that no one approach the horses without the explicit, expressed consent of the mounted officer. As beautiful as the horses may be, they are still animals that are quite large and capable of great damage.

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