Overland Park police are starting a mounted search-and-rescue unit, Chief John Douglass' blog reports. What's a little different is that civilians will be a big part of the group. (They'll each have to provide their own horse, though they'll get some special training and equipment in return.)
USA Today had an article recently noting that many police departments have cut their mounted patrols because their budgets have gotten smaller. It sounds like OP will be using its unit for search, and not for crowd control, which KCPD and other agencies do.
One of the country's best-known mounted patrols, the nonprofit Texas Equusearch, recently sent out an alert asking for donations because they were in a budget fix.
