For the Campus Police department, protecting students and keeping order on campus is the most important aspect of its job.
But sometimes, the work of human police officers alone is not the optimal way to take care of certain operations. In instances such as these, Campus Police depends on its Mounted Unit.
The equine unit consists of two horses, Jackson and Eli — Jackson is owned by Lillian Moore, one of the officers in the Mounted Unit, while Eli is a donated horse.
Moore said the one thing that makes the horses so important to Campus Police is the sheer size of the animals.
“The number one priority of the Mounted Unit is to be a visible presence on campus. When a person is on a horse, they are taller than they would be on foot, so they are definitely going to get noticed more than a person on foot,” Moore said. “We like to look at ourselves as goodwill ambassadors from Campus Police to the students.”
Joseph Goodrow, a Campus Police captain, reiterated Moore’s thoughts.
“[Mounted Officers] are elevated, and they are on an animal, so people can spot them easier. You have excellent visibility, so people will know that the police are out there. An officer on foot can walk through an area three or four times and not be noticed,” Goodrow said. “Also, they are a great public relations tool. People want to come up and talk to the Mounted Officers, and that gives us an opportunity to talk to them about crime prevention. It’s a great icebreaker.”
Moore added the horses serve as an important function at certain events where their size comes in handy.
“The Mounted Unit is used especially at special events for crowd control,” Moore said. “We have started using the Mounted Unit at the student gates at football games after the new student ticket policy began. A single mounted officer is about as effective as eight to ten officers on foot when you are trying to move a crowd, because they are so visible. It makes it a lot easier to make arrests as well because horses are very intimidating.”
Like any member of the police force, the horses have their own personalities that define them to their human partners.
“The first horse, Jackson, is very mellow and people-friendly. He’s always very friendly with the students,” Moore said. “Our other horse, Eli, used to be a show horse, so he’s very athletic. He’s also kind of a troublemaker — he’s always the one to try and steal food from someone.”
While the mounted officers have formed a tight bond with the horses, they can’t be around to care for the horses all of the time. When the horses are off duty, they live at the Equine Research Facility on Reedy Creek Road, where they are fed and cared for by student employees.
According to Moore, officers outside the University approve of the performance of the horses.
Both horses recently completed training and certification at the annual Carolinas Mounted Patrol Certification in South Carolina, Moore said.
After their assessment, both horses received advanced certifications.
Though Moore said that she has always been interested in horses, she does perform some tasks while on duty that some people might find unattractive.
“Horse droppings on campus are a big concern for us, and if they happen to fall on a sidewalk or street, we are responsible for cleaning it,” she said. “However, we will usually leave it where it falls if it is in an area where people don’t walk very often.”
