An Old Cartoon from a Sun-Paper Artist Circa 1955
City Mounted Police Holding Own, In Age of Atoms Autos
THOMAS M HOPKINSON

The Sun (1837-1987); Nov 27, 1955; pg. 40

In the age of Atoms and all those with the never-ending battle of man versus machine. Baltimore’s mounted police are holding their own. Yesterday Capt. Thomas J. Keys. Head of the foot traffic division of the Baltimore police, dispelled recent rumors that the city’s horse and the mounted division was doomed to follow the horse and buggy to oblivion. “I don’t think the horses could be replaced with any other unit in our department because of the particular typography of Baltimore,” he said

Used at Waterfront

Specifically, he was talking about Baltimore’s waterfront, where the mounted police weave in and out of the congested narrow streets and peers. In addition to the important traffic control work done by the city’s 16 police horses. Capt. Keys cited the “crowd control” role often played by the mounted department. “I’ve never seen anything which could compete with a horse for crowd control.” He said. Talking about the horses being used to hold back crowds at fire and picket lines, the captain said to, “a man on a horse can take the place of a dozen footmen here.” In the last 30 years, the number of police horses has decreased from a maximum of 25 down to the present total of 16. However, the current number has changed little during the last 20 years.

Originated in 1888

Originating in 1888 at the northern district police station, the stables moved to their present location at 27 South Frederick St. in 1927. At the modest two-story brick stable building just a horse you throw away from the block area, 16 not so young buildings months their daily quota of hay and oats. According to Sgt. William C. Otto. A horse “never had it so good.” “They sleep in a nice dry stall, eat three squares a day, have a vet when they’re sick and don’t work too hard,” he explained the three squares consist of 3 quarts of oats at about 5 AM a similar dosage at noontime, and another bucket of oats mixed with 15 pounds of hay for supper.

Variations in the bill of fare are provided twice a week when a molasses feed (a mixture of corn, oats, and hay sprinkled with molasses) is served as a specialty of the stable. Symbolizing, perhaps, more than any other man, the kind of police officer associated with the mounted division, would be Sgt. Charles H. Gerhold. With glinting gray hair, a bushy mustache, and the German descent. Sgt. Gerhold could be a prototype of their traditional Prussian Calvary officer. When asked if he had been around horses very long, Sgt. Gerhold replied, “I can remember the day when I could bend my head a little and walk under a horses belly.” Today, Sgt. Gerhold saddles a spirited, 12-year-old horse named boy, after riding his favorite, Sonny. For many years. Sgt. Gerhold, after 11 years service in the mounted ranks, is another optimist about the future of the equine corpse in the organization of the Metropolitan Police Department. “They can do a job that you just can’t get done with anything else” he said.

Longevity Record

the longevity record for mounted officers belongs to officer Frank W Kuhn, who has 20 years service. He rides radio a 23-year-old coal black gelding with a prominent white diamond etched in the middle of his four head. The oldest horse in the stable is a 24-year-old Charlie, who is written by patrolman William McKeldin. Brother of the governor. Besides the regular downtown traffic duties, the mounted police have their share of parades and special ceremonies. Parading for the Preakness at Pimlico and the “I am an American day” celebration are two events on each year’s calendar. When a horse has performed years of faithful service and starts to show signs of wear and tear, he is assured of spending his remaining days in a pleasant surrounding. At retirement, all good police horses spend their last days at the Pikesville farm in the Baltimore County Humane Society to ramp and roam in green pastures at last free from the all those, noise and cobblestone.

Photo courtesy Mike Kearney

circa 1940's

Horse Patrol Now Fifty Years Old, With Sergeant Schminkey, 21 Years A Member, Its Dean

Fifteen Officers Spend Day In Saddle

Baltimore's mounted police paraded this morning at twenty-five minutes past 7. They parade every weekday morning. Two and two, they ride out of the police stable at 27 South Frederick Street, just below Water Street. And because Frederick is a one-way street for southbound traffic only, they hold this formation until they reach the corner at Lombard Street, where they separate and ride off to their posts. They have no music. But they make a brave show, clattering down Frederick Street on their way to work. First on the Job At 4 A. M. One member of the mounted force goes on duty in Market Place at 5 a.m. During the summer months, another man is assigned to the produce market around Camden and Light streets, beginning at 4 a.m. But the other members of the detachment arrive at the Frederick Street stable between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. They go upstairs to an office on the second floor, a big room heated by an egg stove, where Sergeant Harry G. Schminkey smokes a clay pipe at a roll-top desk.

"Good morning. Sarg."

"Good morning."

"Some weather we're having."

"I'll say."

Each Checked Off

As each man comes in, the sergeant checks him off and gives him his orders for the day. "Shall I take Dixie?" asks a patrolman. Dixie is one of the mounted horses. Use the same mounts. Yes, take Dixie, says the sergeant. But there aren't many questions. Unless a horse is sick or scheduled for a visit to the blacksmith shop, each man uses the same mount from day to day. Framed photographs of mounted officers hang around the walls of the upstairs room. And there are a lot of those plain wooden armchairs digenous to police stations and engine houses. Sometimes the mounted men sit down and catch a smoke with the sergeant. Sometimes they shine their shoes. Occasionally, an officer shaved in the little washroom partitioned off one corner of the office. 

Each Saddled Their Own Horse 

At a quarter of seven, they button up their overcoats, buckle on their Sam Browne pistol belts, go downstairs into the stable, and begin to saddle up. Each man saddles his own horse. The black leather McClellan saddles, padded with yellow and bearing the polished brass Police Department emblem, sit on high wooden horses at the front of the stable. Each mounted policeman's stick hangs from a leather socket on his saddle pad. 

Blacks at Right, Bays at Left 

The stalls are farther back, with a row on either side of the stable, black horses on the right bays, and others on the left. Each horse has his name painted on a small black and yellow sign beside his stall: Nebb, Dixie, Dock, Prince, Dandy, Smiles, Sparks, Jeff, Caspar, Sonny, Teddy, Walt, Ray, Tony, and Mullins. Two hostlers, not policemen, have already groomed the horses. The officers lead their mounts out of their stalls, put on their bridles and saddles, and on cold days, black waterproof blankets initialed "P. D." in big yellow letters. Then the horses are put back in their stalls, and the officers stand around waiting for the sergeant, who comes downstairs about 7:15 o'clock and says, "All right, let's get ready." "Count Off" The policemen get their horses and line up down the center of the stable, each man at the left of his mount's head. "Right dress," says the sergeant. "Count off." The men count off by fours. Inspection The sergeant walks down the line inspecting his men, comes back to the head of the line, and gives the order, " Prepare to mount." The policemen turn and raise their left feet to their left stirrups. One of the hostlers opens the stable doors. "Mount," says the sergeant. Up they go. 

Out by Twos "Twos right," says the sergeant. The mounted policemen wheel by twos and sweep out into Frederick Street, down Frederick to Lombard. Here the main body turns right, but two men turn left, and two or three continue down Frederick Street to Pratt, taking the shortest routes to their regular posts. Sergeant Reports They ride off without the sergeant, who, still on foot, leaves his horse in his stall and walks up to the police headquarters building to report to his superior officer, Capt. Henry C. Kaste, commander of the traffic division, and to receive any orders the captain may have for him. Baltimore's mounted service began in 1888 with fourteen men who patrolled the wharves and the northern suburbs on horseback. It increased to a force of twenty-five men. Then motor cycles and automobiles came in, and the number of mounted men dropped to a dozen. But last year, the strength of the detachment was increased again, this time to sixteen. On Duty Since 1927 Since 1927, the entire mounted force has been on duty in the downtown business section and along the waterfront, where a mounted officer enjoys certain distinct advantages over a footman in the management of traffic. For one thing, a mounted officer can see farther. For another, he can move faster. Fifteen members of the mounted force, including the sergeant, spend their day in the saddle. The sixteenth remains on duty as a sort of telephone clerk in the upstairs office of the Frederick Street stable, which, in the days of horse-drawn patrol wagons, used to be a police patrol station. Sergeant A veteran Sergeant Schminkey, with a 21-year record as a mounted policeman, joined the police force two years before he got a horse and is the oldest member of the detachment in point of service. A farm boy from New Freedom, Pa., he became a member of the mounted at a time when its vacancy went begging. Twenty years ago, policemen weren't interested in riding horseback. But that isn't true any longer. The mounted service is now one of the most popular branches of the police department. When vacancies occur, they are filled from a selected waiting list of foot patrolmen—men who have had experience with horses. Six or seven members of the present mounted force are former cavalrymen. Little Night Work Although they are on duty from 7.30 in the morning until 6 o'clock at night, the mounted men seldom have any night work and rarely work on Sundays. Every· day at noon, half of them ride back from their posts to the Frederick Street stable for a lunch period of an hour and a half. The other half comes in for a similar rest at 1.30. Because of the small size of the mounted force, all its members are well known to those sections of the business or district in which they serve. This is particularly true of the retail shopping district, where three members of the force take weekly turns working posts on Howard and Liberty streets. Jeff An Old Show Horse One of these men is Patrolman Edward Schuhart, who rides a silver-tailed, dun-colored horse called Jeff. Jeff was originally a buckskin but has faded out with age. He came to the police force from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Fair of the Iron Horse at Halethorpe. Jeff was a show horse, taking part in the pageant. William Harrison, who rides a bay named Dock, and Edward Ellis, who usually has a chestnut mount named Smiles, are the other two members of the shopping district detail. Another well-known horse of the mounted is Dandy, a sorrel. With a thirteen-year service record, he's a stable veteran and is considered the mounted's best parade horse. 

Horses Cost About $250

A police horse costs about $250, and his equipment, exclusive of shoes, another $200. He wears a special iron shoe with a rubber heel to prevent slipping. New horses are selected by Sergeant Schminkey and Captain Kaste. They prefer big-boned, settled horses, around 7 years old and fifteen hands high, either blacks or bays. The horses have to be pretty tough to stand steady street duty. They have to have good nerves to be able to "take traffic. City traffic sets some horses crazy. The Police Department gives all its mounts a ten-day workout to see if they will "take traffic" before they buy them. New horses must also undergo a complete physical examination by the Police Department veterinarian, Dr. L. Hickman. Mounted officers are responsible for their horses only when they're on the street. Hostlers do the feeding, currying, and other work around the stables. In the winter, when the streets are dangerously slippery, the horses remain in their stables, and the mounted officers do their work on foot.

Downtown Streets Its Habitat

Breaks Up Many Traffic Jams

December, 1943

Whether leading a parade or breaking traffic jams in service, the mounted division is among the most colorful divisions of the Baltimore Police Department and always attracts the attention of pedestrians. During the almost forty years of its existence, the mounted division has been gradually improved until today, with its seventeen men and officers, not to mention the horses, it is probably the best mounted division in the country. It is a part of the traffic division and, therefore, is under the direct command of Captain Henry Kaste. For years uncounted, its principal activities has been confined to Light and Pratt streets, where shipping matters engage the labors of the various trucking concerns. Years ago, it was thought that the widening of Light Street would care for any traffic problems, but increased business on the street has made the work of the mounted officers more responsible. Further north, Baltimore, Eutaw, Howard, and Lexington streets require the attention of the mounted division. But at the head of a parade, men and horses come into their own and reflect great credit on the police department. The members of the mounted division and their equine mounts are as follows:

SERGEANTS - D. McBride-Dixie. H. Schminkey-Charlie. OFFICERS W. Salisbury-Sparks. E. Ellis-King. H. Kiefer-Toney. L. Zulauf-Beauty. E. Schuhart -Shorty. W. Harrison-Buck. F. Kearney-Star. F. Kuhn-Radio. T. Bedworth-Blackie. W. McKelden-Smiles. H. Frank-Duke. C. Quinn-Toby. C. Gable-Teddy. J. Cossentino-Blackout. J. Hemler-Sonny.

A Persistent Officer

Fortitude and Bravery His Buckler

Sergeant John L. Neussinger Fights On

By FRANK E. GOULD

JOHN L. NEUSSINGER

Sergeant in Traffic Division

Topping the list for promotion in the Baltimore Police Department has ceased to be a novelty to Sergeant John L. Neussinger, attached to the Traffic Division. In an examination held recently, Sergeant Neussinger was placed on the eligible list for lieutenant, which holds good for one year. In this test, he led 153 Sergeants, and along with five other candidates, he tied for first place honors, receiving an average of 99 percent. He has had the highest average for the third successive year, and in every examination in which Sergeant Neussinger participated, he received a high average. In the year 1931, along with 1,053 others, he qualified in the test for probationary patrolman," receiving an average of 98 percent. He was placed 28th on the eligible list, and with fifty-seven other candidates, he shared second-place honors. He took the examination for probationary patrolman only once. In the year 1938, he was placed seventh on the eligible list for sergeant, receiving an average of 98 percent, and in this test he also shared second-placed honors. He took the examination for sergeant only once. In the last five years, Sergeant Neussinger has taken examinations for lieutenant, and in the five different tests, he came out with high honors, as follows:

1940 - averaged 891/2 per cent, 9th on list.

1941 - averaged 91 per cent, 5^th on list.

1942 - averaged 98 per cent, first place with one.

1943 - averaged 99 per cent, first place with one.

1944 - averaged 99 per cent, first place with five.

Sergeant Neussinger was appointed by General Charles D. Gaither to the Baltimore Police Department on October 29, 1931, and was assigned to the Southwestern District. He was transferred from the Southwestern District to the Traffic Division on February 18, 1932, remaining there ever since. And on May 19, 1939, he was advanced to the grade of Sergeant by Commissioner Robert F. Stanton, remaining in the Traffic Division. Sergeant Neussinger, since his entry into the Baltimore Police Department, which is now almost 13 years, has been in the "limelight" frequently and has also had varied experiences and several very close calls, one of which he received only after two months of service: an injury that came very close to costing him his right hand last year. On September 4th, 1943, Police Commissioner Hamilton R. Atkinson and other high-ranking officers of the Baltimore Police Department called Sergeant Neussinger " one of the gamest policemen on the force" when he went to the Mercy hospital for the eighteenth operation on his right hand, which was injured in line of duty. Since then, he has had another operation and is still very hopeful that it's the last. Sergeant Neussinger, then a probationary patrolman with only two months of service, surprised two colored men robbing the office of a lumber company in the southwestern section of the city on the night of December 30, 1941, about 11 p.m. One of the negroes pulled the trigger of his gun several times, but it failed to fire. As he did so, the second negro appeared, armed with a knife, and both leaped on him, carrying him to the ground, attempting to take his revolver, however, without any success. When several policemen came to Neussinger's rescue, they found him to be bleeding profusely and near collapse, but he still held on to the one prisoner. Neussinger suffered deep gashes from the knife on the face, neck, right arm, and both hands as one of the negroes attempted to cut his throat. The most severe wound he received was to his right hand. Surgeons found that the knife had severed an artery, tendons, and tissues, and that the swelling was due to the failure of the blood to circulate. An operation was performed, and relief, however, was only temporary, and the next twelve years found the patrolman in the hospital once each year and sometimes twice for additional operations in order to save the hand. Throughout this ordeal, Neussinger never lost hope that one of the operations would, in time, effect a permanent cure. On September 25, 1939, the middle finger of his right hand was amputated, and he returned back to duty on October 31, 1939. Shortly thereafter, the hand again began to swell, with some more operations in the offing, and on October 26, 1943, two more fingers were amputated. Sergeant Neussinger is always hopeful; as Doctor Mohr and Elliott H. Hutchins, police surgeons, stated, they thought this operation was very successful and there should not be any further trouble. Sergeant Neussinger returned to duty in uniform on December 6, 1943, and hasn't lost a day since. He has only the thumb and small finger on his right hand left, but it is really amazing what he can do with just the two fingers. He can write and use a typewriter and do the same as heretofore. He can shoot his revolver with his left hand and still maintain marksmanship, and since being back to duty, he has made numerous arrests and can well take care of himself. Sergeant Neussinger's only regret is that he no longer can play the piano, organ, and string instruments, which he used to do quite a bit. Neussinger's handwriting has not been impaired whatsoever, and he still writes with only' two· fingers, which is very remarkable, and he makes up all the details and daily assignments of the footmen in the Traffic Division. On August 12, 1932, about 8 p.m., while a patrolman and directing traffic at the intersection of Howard and Fayette Streets, Neussinger, released from Mercy Hospital only two days earlier, caught a chain-gang fugitive who held up a clerk in the cigar store at Howard and Baltimore Streets with a loaded revolver. He was disarmed by Neussinger, found guilty, and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary. Later, he was returned to the prison camp to serve the rest of an eleven-year sentence, also for a hold-up, and was imprisoned for only two months when he escaped. On April 28, 1935, about 2 p.m., while a patrolman was directing traffic at the intersection of Park Avenue and Lexington Streets, Neussinger caught a purse thief as scores of startled shoppers saw a mother and daughter struggle with a pocketbook thief. At the Western Police District, the thief was found guilty and convicted. On August 13, 1935, about 8:30 p.m., while a patrolman was directing traffic at the intersection of Light and Conway Streets, Neussinger caught an armed Penal Farm fugitive from Roxbury, Md. A relative of the fugitive saw him riding in an automobile and notified the Southern Police District. A general alarm was given over the police call box system, and a record was affected when Neussinger caught the fugitive ten minutes after the alarm was given, riding in an automobile north on Light Street. He was disarmed by Neussinger and returned to the penal farm. On November 14, 1936, about 2:15 p.m., while a patrolman was directing traffic on the southwest corner of the intersection at Howard and Lexington streets, Neussinger arrested a colored man who was drunk in a zig-zagged vehicle at the height of the Saturday afternoon rush period. He observed motorists go against traffic signals, almost taking down several pedestrians, and at his own risk, Neussinger hopped on the running board of a taxicab and then on the running board of an automobile operated by a drunk, stopped the motor, and pulled the negro from the automobile. He was found guilty and convicted. On May 7, 1937, about 4:30 p.m., while a patrolman was directing traffic in front of the Police Headquarters at the intersection of Fayette Street and the Fallsway, Neussinger observed for a distance of two blocks an automobile, westbound on Fayette Street, being driven on the wrong side of the street, thereby causing a traffic jam at the intersection and middle of the block. When Neussinger approached the machine to give the operator a reprimand, he found that the operator of the automobile was a doctor who stopped his car suddenly, rendering medical care to a young woman who was giving birth to a premature child while en route to the Mercy Hospital. After assisting the doctor, Neussinger stepped up onto the running board of the automobile, blowing his police whistle to clear traffic, and raced the automobile to the hospital, where it was said both the mother and child were doing well. On March 22, 1941, about 5:30 p.m., a lone gunman terrorized hundreds of Saturday pre-Easter shoppers in Lexington Street. He held up a ladies dress shop on West Lexington Street near Park Avenue and herded women customers and employees into a corner of the store with a loaded.38 caliber revolver. Shoppers fled in near panic as they saw the bandit run from the store out into Lexington Street and into other stores. He was caught by Sergeant Neussinger. While in the midst of a crowded shopping store, he tried to use a revolver on Sergeant Neussinger. However, he was disarmed and placed under arrest. He was found guilty and convicted. The convict had a police record from 1930 to 1937 of five counts of robbery with machine guns and revolvers and one count of automobile theft. He was sentenced to nine years in the Maryland Penitentiary. Sergeant Neussinger is six feet and one and a half inches tall, weighs about 180 pounds, has black wavy hair, is brown-eyed, and is very quick in his mental reactions and his movements. His friends describe him as' a policeman of unusual acuteness and one who really has learned the real value of courtesy in dealing with the public. He possesses qualities of leadership. Military in his bearing, no speck is allowed to light on his uniform. His shoes are always shined, and his brass buttons are well polished, making them look as if they were also gold-plated. The creases are kept where they belong. His erect carriage, alertness, politeness, and geniality cannot fail to impress those with whom he comes into contact. He is very ambitious, having acquired much wisdom from his library at home, with a collection of two hundred or more volumes dealing with traffic and criminal law. He has the latest ordinances and acts that have been passed and will, in any way, affect his duties and responsibilities. He is a very conscientious officer, and his superiors say, "He can be depended upon to meet any assignment." Neussinger is well known throughout the Police Department to be a fine and highly respected officer, and his promotion, in time, to Lieutenant, will be looked upon with high favor throughout the department and the public at large, as there are ever so many that are unstinting in their praise of the Sergeant and in expressions of their regard for him. He is very considerate; however, he can be very stern when there is a need for it, as he is a firm believer in discipline. His hobbies are: keeping scrapbooks and records of all sorts pertaining to police; watching movies; and collecting souvenirs. Sergeant Neussinger has been commended five times for meritorious service. He also received the highest award, a gold medal for humane action in 1935, from the Maryland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 1933, he received the "Sharpshooter" silver bar, and in 1934, he received the "Expert" silver bar for shooting from the Baltimore Police Department. The sergeant can always be seen at all big events, handling traffic throughout the city. In the year 1936, he assisted in a safety campaign sponsored by the Baltimore Police Department and the Studebaker cooperating.  In the year 1940, he was in charge of the "Guard of Honor" for the Knee-Hi Safety Campaign. Demonstrations were given to over 75,000 schoolchildren throughout the city and were sponsored by the Police Department, the Baltimore Safety Council, and the Sunpapers. In the year 1941, he had charge of a squad of traffic officers who were detailed in Washington, D.C., for the Presidential Inauguration. 

 L to R John Moran with flag, Chuck Esler, Teufer and Larry Merrifield on the blonde horse

Mounted Methods Still Effective

June 1971

Law enforcement in 1971 has reached the stage where it is, to say the least, sophisticated. The Baltimore Police Department is equipped with many of the most modern and up-to-date tools of the law enforcement profession. Radio-equipped patrol cars, emergency vehicle units, motorcycles, scooters, boats, and even helicopters are provided to assist the individual patrolman., He has, in many cases, instant communications from anywhere because of the walkie-talkie that hangs from his hip. The police officer, for his part, is well trained and is a true professional in all senses of the word. The citizens of the City of Baltimore, at least a great many of them, have voiced a certain amount of pride in their police department and the men who serve them in a variety of ways, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

BPD NEWSLETTER

With the ever-increasing mechanization of the department, reliance on modern technology, and use of innovative techniques in law enforcement, it may, to some, seem surprising to see a police officer riding down the street on a horse. Yet, today, any motorist downtown is very likely to do just that. He'll see a uniformed officer atop a prancing horse weaving in and out of the traffic, handing out traffic summonses, and assisting those in need. This is not, as it may appear, a concession to the "Olden Days". It is, instead, a clearly visible example of the maximum use of resources in an ever-modernizing police organization. The Department's Mounted Division, consisting of 22 men and 17 horses, meets an obvious need. With traffic heavy in the more congested downtown area, the department needs a means to be able to answer calls for service in situations where police cars cannot get through traffic and a man on foot couldn't get to the location quickly enough. An officer on horseback provides the answer. He can respond to a particular location regardless of the traffic conditions. If it's an emergency, he can use the sidewalks or alleyways that were not wide enough or clear enough to allow the passage of a vehicle. A visit to the department's stables, located in the Unit Block S. Frederick Street, results in a better understanding of the role of a mounted division in modern police work. It must be pointed out that today there are nearly two dozen cities that maintain mounted divisions. The work in almost every major city remains the same: the control of congested traffic and response to service calls in the mounted officer's area of patrol. The Mounted Division moved to its present location in 1923. Through the years, the officers, atop their well-cared-for horses, have been a delight to both residents of the city and visitors who see them as a symbol of law enforcement. Presently, there are 17 horses quartered on Frederick Street. There are 15 mounted officers and 2 sergeants; in addition, a crew of five holsters kept the stables clean and cared for the animals. Each officer is assigned a particular animal for which he is responsible. They work a 5-day, 40-hour week in two shifts. It is interesting to note the special considerations given to the non-human member of the "team". Each horse is assigned a badge and is a "member" of the department. He works an 8-hour day, the same as his rider, and this includes a 30-minute lunch break. In addition, each animal is "rested" for at least 10 minutes, preferably 15 minutes every hour. The needs of horses are special, especially when they spend their working days assisting in the patrol of Baltimore's downtown area. For example, each animal must get plenty of exercise, even when not working. If an officer is on vacation, the horse assigned to him is "worked" at least three days a week. This serves to keep him in shape and prevents stiffness.

 

 BPD NEWSLETTER

The "personal" needs of the horses are not overlooked. In the summer, when the animal has completed his tour of duty, he is groomed and then given a cooling shower before being fed. The diet of the department's horses is surprisingly varied to provide maximum nourishment. The staple food, of course, is hay, and 5 bales are used daily to provide for the 17 animals. In addition, each feed box is filled with approximately 3 quarts of oats per day. Several times a week, the hostlers prepare what could be considered a "gourmet meal" for their charges, "sweet feed". This is a mixture of oats and corn held together with molasses. Aside from providing a pleasant treat for the animals, it's packed with needed vitamins and minerals to ensure the health and well-being of the four-legged "members" of the department. Medical treatment is one of the most important elements in the lives of horses. They are regularly examined by a veterinarian, provided shots to prevent infection, and given dental and eye examinations. The department gets its horses from several sources. Some are donated outright as gifts. Others are purchased from area farms on a unique trial basis. Each animal purchased has a 30-day option. For a month, his rider trains him and rides him in the downtown area. This gives the officer the opportunity to evaluate the animal to ensure his fitness for police work in a noisy city. If the new horse passes the initial "workout" and a complete medical examination, he becomes a "member" of the Mounted Division. In addition to a good disposition and health, size is an important element of selection. Policemen are larger than jockeys, and their jobs are more rigorous than those of many "cowboys", so the animals selected must be large enough to carry both the rider and his equipment. It is estimated that the combined additional weight on the horse's back, including the rider, saddle, and all of the equipment needed for policing, is approximately 260 pounds. The essential element of the "team" is the police officer-rider. Each is an expert horseman; most have ridden since childhood. In addition, the officers are all men of experience in regular police work, each having spent years in various districts before assignment to the Mounted Division. 

BPD NEWSLETTER

The officer is responsible for the health and performance of his "teammate". And in today's society, he must be on the alert at all times for the protection of both he and his mount. The officer must assure that the horse does not inadvertently kick or bump a bystander. He must also be certain that the horse isn't exposed to unnecessary dangers. The age-old admonition about "taking candy from strangers" is especially applicable today. In some cities, horses have been poisoned in the very presence of an officer who thought the citizen was giving his animal a "treat" . The uniform of the mounted officer remains distinctive. The blouse and trousers bear the yellow braid, which is "reminiscent of the Cavalry. The yellow braid is also evident on the white hat, and yellow is the color used for the rank insignia of the two sergeants who supervise their fellow Mounted Division officers. Together, the police officer and his horse remain an impressive presence in the city of Baltimore. They work their posts with enthusiasm, generally to the delight of the motorists and passersby, including many children who seldom have the opportunity to see a man riding on horseback. In addition, they provide services vital to the orderly flow of traffic downtown and for the enforcement of the law in Baltimore.

Photo courtesy of Nancy Crane-Bentz
Officer Eugene Crane (above and below) and his mount "Jet"

Photo courtesy of Nancy Crane-Bentz 

 Photo courtesy of Nancy Crane-Bentz 

Photo courtesy of Nancy Crane-Bentz 

BALTIMORE POLICE NEWSLETTER

Police Commissioner Donald D. Pomerleau leads a contingent from the Traffic Division's Mounted Unit during the Annual "I Am An American Day Parade" held on September 10, 1978. The East Baltimore Parade route was lined with hundreds of thousands of people watching the traditional event.

Greg Holevas and Teufer 

P/O Ronald Teufer 

P/O Ronald Teufer

City's Mounted Patrol: A Serious Job That Is a Lot 'Like Being a Kid Again'

Katie Gunther Kodat

Apr 3, 1987

Pg. 1C

Meet the Greg Faherty, also known as the concrete cowboy, champion of the truth, justice, and the American way, is a legend in his own mind.

You think it’s a joke? Just asking.

“I am Greg Faherty, also known as the concrete cowboy…..”

“Say the rest, Gray,” urged Sgt. Larry Lewis.

“… The champion of the truth, Justice and the American way, a legend in my own mind, I’ve been in this unit five years and it seems like just yesterday. I’ve been having such fun.”

Sgt. Lewis groaned and leaned is cheek against the palm of one hand. “It sure pays the wear boots around here,” he drawled

in more ways than one. Welcome to the mounted division of the Baltimore City Police Department, where street smarts and horse sense join forces in the fight against crime.

No one is really sure how long the city has had a mounted division – Sgt. Lewis, the unit commander, says there have been mounted police in Baltimore at least in late 1800s. But is fairly certain that for as long as it’s been around, the unit always has been one of the most coveted assignments in the department.

“It’s like being a kid again,” said officer Faherty.

“This is the place where everybody wants to be,” Ofc. Kirk Montague said. “I big to come here.”

Of course, if you’re frightened the horses, and if you get sore just think about spending several hours a day in the saddle, you may not think it’s such a hot job. But if you relish horseback riding, are good at public relations and – most important – enjoy being the object of affection and admiration of hundreds of city children, this is the place for you.

“That’s the fun part: going down the street and seeing the mothers with their kids, saying, “look at the horse,” said officer Montague, an “the criminal element couldn’t care less about the horse,” said Sgt. Lewis

however, a lack of compassion on the part of the criminal “criminal element” does not translate into a lack of fear of the “equine element” there is something about a mounted officer that seems to deter certain types of street crime, such as daytime household burglaries and purse snatching’s. As a result, mounted police are increasingly being sent out on special details in areas of Reisterstown Road to Washington Boulevard for a high police profile [and you can’t get much higher than horseback] is deemed necessary.

And there’s nothing quite as dramatic as an officer on horseback clattering down the street in full gallop, chasing a suspect in the middle of traffic.

“Yeah, it tends to grab people’s attention,” Sgt. Lewis said.

Just as it takes a certain kind of person to make a police officer, so it takes a certain kind of forced to make a police mount. Like the ideal officer, the ideal police force is “quiet, even-tempered, cold-blooded,” Sgt. Lewis said.

Most of the 19 horses in the unit are donated, but that doesn’t mean the department takes glue factory rejects. In fact, the “washout” factor in the unit is pretty high: by far the majority of the candidates never make it into the 60 day trial. At the small, immaculately Stables one Holiday Street beneath the Jones falls Expressway.

If a horse is being offered to the department, Sgt. Lewis first takes a look at it in its home corral. “We bring up a radio car, turned on the sirens and lights and see how he does,” he said, “if they’re spooked right then, we won’t take him.”

Thoroughbreds, for example, are almost always eliminated without a second look: two high strong for the law enforcement light. Morgan’s and Arabians are also usually rejected because they’re too short.

“I like him at least 15.1 hands just above 5 feet” Sgt. Lewis said, “I like Ewing’s, and we prefer the 5 to 10-year-olds as far as age. And we like basically dark-colored horses.” Dark-colored horses? “Well, your light-colored horses, in times of shedding, hair gets all over your uniform” he said, “it’s not hard rule; we have had Palomino’s. But I don’t like the idea of an officer on a Pinto, say – it’s too cowboy looking. This is a military type operation and we try to keep a sense of uniformity in the ranks.”

As a result of those strict criteria, the all American day or Chestnut quarter horse is well represented in the ranks of the city Police Department, either in purebred such as R. C. Officer Faherty’s mount, or in a variety of cross breeds. There are also a handful of Tennessee walking horses in the unit, animals that are popular with the officers because of their smooth gait and phlegmatic disposition.

Even after a horse has been taken into the unit, though, there is no guarantee that it will stay. “Sometimes they come in their and do real well, then all of a sudden it’s like they decide, “nope, this isn’t for me.” And we have to worst them out,” Sgt. Lewis said.

To get into the mount unit, the officers, to, have to meet certain standards. “They have to serve their time on the streets, at least three years, “Sgt. Lewis said, “we want an officer whose aggressive, but also good in public relations. Even when you’re on a crime detail as opposed to a trap as assignment, kids will come up and want to pet the horse.”

It’s nice of the officers have some experience around horses, but is not necessary. Everyone takes an eight week writing course, for riding in the midst of the city is not the same as trail riding in the country and the hazards extend beyond the “criminal element”

“I like to see some people use some common sense,” Sgt. Lewis said, “people will come up and pet [the horse] on the rear end,” an open investigation for a kick. “And I’d like to see people take more care and passing the police force when there in their cars, we screen the horses, but there an animal after all, and nothing is certain,”

City police horses are usually retired when they reach the age of 25. The department will give the horse free to anyone with at least an acre of land and a good-sized barn; the person also has to agree to keep the horse through his natural life without selling him or running him out for pleasure writing.

However, parents of horses and grazed little girls should keep this in mind before calling the department; there is a 12-year waiting list with the names of 300 people who meet the retirement requirements. And the department is not even a third of the way through the list yet.

Officer Ed Fellows (above) on "Sabre" in the Preakness Parade 1977

Officer Fellows left the department around 1985

 Sergeant Thomas Whalen with "ROOKIE"

 

Officer R. H. Teufer

Charlie the mount of Patrolman McKelden, turns with the traffic unaided. Charlie’s at home in the swirl of traffic at Pratt and Light Streets

Horses with Blue Coats

Frank Henry

 Mar 10, 1946

Baltimore’s Mounted Policemen are a Bunch of Softies
Where their Horses are Concerned

The world’s “sentimental” and policeman” or sometimes associated with one another by the average motorist or pedestrian, but then the average motorist has never spent any time down around the Baltimore Police Department’s stables on Frederick Street.

And the horses, which print so proudly at the head of a parade or stand place in Italy in a swirl or the traffic jam, are more sentimental than any policeman.

Take the case of old Walt, a veteran of 10 years in the mounted police. Patrolman John George had known Walt for 10 years in the Camden Market district, and, despite his age, Walt was still a spry and alert horse.

The patrolman, George, had to retire because of ill health. When a newcomer mounted Walt the day after patrolman George retired, Walt was suddenly not the same horse. He began to be whiny, shook his head, and his step faltered. That was the beginning of the end for Walt.

Police forces, like policemen, are eligible for retirement when they have served their tour of duty, so Walt was retired to the pasture of the Humane Society of Baltimore at Pikesville. As he was led into the pasture, everyone expected him to settle down to a well-earned rest, to crop the juicy grass, and to romp with others like himself.

But Walt was a sentimental police force. When the gate clicked, he trotted up to it and blew. He stood there a long time, repeating his call and pricking up his ears for the answer that never came.

From the first moment of his retirement, won’t never settle down to quiet contentment. He raced up and down the fences pausing only to look anxiously at each passerby. He lost his appetite he became so thin his ribs stood out in his backbone formed a high sharp bridge. In six months Walt had died.

That was in 1939, today in a little lot on a hillside behind the Humane Society’s building, Walt’s grave Israel off and flanked by young pine trees. Over in the weather-beaten marker tells of the long association between the horse and patrolman named George.

“They say it was a case of heartbreak,” patrolman George said the other day at his home, 1319 North Montford Ave. “Maybe it was. I’m sorry I couldn’t go to see Walt then as I should have. But I was sick. I think Walt’s death does a lot to show the difference between horses and people. As people we all have our little troubles enjoys to divert us. But that poor horse had just one thing in his heart and brain and nothing could take his attention from it. “Walt used to follow me everywhere if I wanted to get away from him for a minute. I had to tie him fast, and then you could hear his bit champing and just for forefoot pawing at the pavement. When you see me coming back his ears would prick up and maybe he’d become a bit whiny. Then he turned to his left side to me so I could mount him, because on the force we always get one from that side. I wish I could’ve taken Walt with me when I retired – if I had only a little place for him!”

The poignant story of Walt and George is a natural incident in such a group as the mounted squad, where men and horses work together and nourish a mutual devotion through the years. In

The 17 men on the force feel they are less than half the squad was out to steady nerves and good heads of the 17 horses upon which they rely, since the best efforts of the policeman on a giddy horse would come to naught. In the crush of downtown traffic, policemen and horses trust each other, cool and confident even in nerve-wracking jams where death makes a false move. The city-wide horses can sense a traffic snarl almost as quickly as their riders—just a touch of the spur, and they move confidently into the desired route.

Perhaps it is the love of being a partner. One of the team. As much as the affection for one another and engendered by time, that has idealized the relationship of the mounted policeman and his horse. When a man has spent 10 ½ hours a day, six days a week on one horse for 1015 or even 20 years there is no need for cues or signals – one knows what the other will do in a given circumstances: and the partnership is snooze and mellow. In the mounted squad stable at 27 South Frederick St. The horses are sometimes seen nuzzling their riders at the end of the day’s work – a sort of good night gesture.

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