The mounted patrol is coming back to Cheyenne.
Cheyenne may not be a one-horse town, but it’s definitely horse friendly. Now mounted law enforcement officers are coming back to Wyoming’s capital city.
Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak and a number of deputies and their horses spent a week in June training to patrol the streets of Cheyenne. Kozak said he hopes it will bring back that element of authentic Western hospitality and law-and-order during major events in the state capital.
“Horseback was the traditional way of doing business in the 1800s,” Kozak told Cowboy State Daily. “We value our Western culture and heritage in Cheyenne and Laramie County.”
Back In The Saddle
The mounted patrol was a fixture in Cheyenne when Kozak was the chief of the Cheyenne Police Department, but it “fizzled out and went away” in the years since. Now, as Laramie County sheriff, Kozak and his deputies are mounting up again.
Modern law enforcement officers rely on horsepower produced by vehicles to do their day-to-day jobs. Still, Kozak said having a deputy on a horse has “advantages.”
“When you’re on a horse, you're at a higher vantage point,” he said. “You can see over fences and things going on at a greater distance than if you're sitting in your patrol car or walking along the street.”
Some people might feel bold enough to confront or get argumentative with a deputy. Kozak said experience shows that changes when facing a horse.
“In any situation where you're trying to get someone to move out of a certain area, horses are pretty effective at getting people to move,” he said. “People do not like to mess with the horse.”
However, the primary reason Kozak wants to bring back the mounted patrol is “positive community outreach.”
People might not want to mess with horses, but mounted law enforcement officers are also seen as more accessible and approachable.
“People like to see law enforcement on horseback, especially visitors during the summer,” he said. “It's a great way for our deputies to meet the people coming to town and build a relationship with them. That’s our primary focus with the mounted patrol.”
Walking Or Bucking It Up
Kozak spent a week working with deputies and their horses to prepare them for their first stint as mounted patrol. It was a “bring-your-own-horse” assignment.
“Everyone in the unit is using their own horse for the patrol,” he said. “We partnered with Visit Cheyenne so the deputies can house their horses at the stables on 15th Street, right by the Cheyenne Depot Plaza. They won’t have to haul horses and trailers back and forth. They can keep them here.”
Kozak hired an instructor to acclimate the horses to the stimuli they’ll encounter while patrolling the crowded streets of Cheyenne during parades, holidays, and events like Cheyenne Frontier Days.
“The first thing the instructor did was to make sure that the horses were obedient, followed the directions of the riders, and tested them to make sure the horse and the rider worked well as a team,” he said.
The horses also were subjected to noises like loud mufflers, horns and sirens to ensure they stay calm and keep their riders and anyone else nearby safe. Not every horse passed those tests.
“They all passed but one,” Kozak said. “That horse actually bucked the rider off during one of the training exercises, so it was disqualified from service.”
That horse will have to do some serious soul-searching if it wants to pass the training in the future. If you can’t keep your deputy mounted, there’s not much use on the mounted patrol.
Back To Cheyenne’s Frontier Days
The newest iteration of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office mounted patrol is ready for its first patrol.
Kozak said the deputies and their horses are prepared to engage and assist however they can.
“We are going to use the mounted patrol well,” he said. “We'll have horses in the parades, of course. And after the parades, our deputies, volunteers, and posse members will be on patrol in the downtown area.”
Kozak said the mounted patrol will be available to assist tourists, respond to service calls, and work with the Cheyenne Police Department when needed. Although there currently aren’t any riders from the Cheyenne Police Department, Kozak said he’d ride with them anytime.
“I think they just don't have any riders ready to do that right now,” he said, “but the mounted patrol will be open to them in the future if they want to join our team. For now, we will move forward with the sheriff's office being on patrol downtown. Our deputies can do that.”
Kozak said that at the very latest, the mounted patrol on the streets for Cheyenne Frontier Days. That’ll be a true return to a valued cultural tradition in Cheyenne, Laramie County, and Wyoming.
“We value our Western culture and heritage, and the mounted patrol is very positive community outreach,” he said. “People who come to Cheyenne expect to see it, and we’re delivering it. That’s why I was so determined to bring it back.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
