Jun 23, 2009 6:35 pm US/Eastern
Plan In Works To Recall Boston Police Horses
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Boston police horses will soon be gone from the streets of Boston, but WBZ has learned it may not be for good. City leaders are talking through a plan to recall those horses, should Boston's finances improve.
The ceremonial last ride for the Boston Mounted Police Unit will take place Thursday on City Hall Plaza. Most of the department's five horses will be going to New York City, four are destined for the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department and the other three will be returned to the people who donated them.
Boston city leaders are meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss a plan to get those horses back, when and if the city can afford it.
Commissioner Ed Davis
announced back in March that the unit would be disbanded as part of budget cuts, and replaced with officers on bikes and foot patrols. Davis said the move would save about $600,000, including the elimination of 10 civilian horse hostler jobs.
In Boston, officers on horseback have been used primarily to patrol city parks and for crowd control.
Ever since the cut was announced, there has been a movement to save the 200-year-old Boston Mounted Police Unit. An
online petition has more than 2,500 signatures. City Council President Michael Ross and Councilor Stephen J. Murphy are among those fighting to keep the police horses.
Ross said Tuesday that he is determined to make "the equipment, the materials, the bridles, the saddles - all that goes into running an operation like this is under lock and key and is ready to be redeployed at our earliest convenience."
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