Since Griffith Park is a popular tourist destination, it makes it an attractive spot for thieves to steal purses and passports.
The LAPD Northeast division is increasing their presence in Griffith Park to help lower crime. This means there will be officers on horseback from the Metro Mounted Unit, who will not only be interacting with tourists and visitors but also providing high visibility patrol.
"They're a great public interaction tool for us but they're also great crime deterrents," explained LAPD Det. Michael Ventura. "When a crook and a criminal sees a police officer but one on a mounted unit ... they realize that's probably not someone that I want to mess with and I certainly can't' outrun."
Most of the horses used by LAPD are donated and on average, the working horses could have 15-year-long careers. Once they turn 20, the department begins to look for pastures to retire them. "As far as effectiveness on patrol, well obviously, we have a height advantage, we can see distances but from the height, but we also have the terrain, we're not affected by terrain," said LAPD Sgt. Eric Rogers. "In other words, we can go through any terrain at all, whether we're up here in Griffith Park, we can go up these hills, we can transverse on the sand at Venice Beach.
"They go through an academy, they go through a school, we've got to provide insurance, we've got to provide medical and believe it or not, we provide dental and food for these horses, just like we do for canines," Ventura said.
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