COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — I attended a special press conference and found out Sheriff Roybal launched a new partnership for their mounted unit. I got to take a closer look at the team, and they are certainly not horsing around!
Sheriff Joseph Roybal says the sheriff deputy horses help keep our streets safe. "This unit is going to be a law-enforcement tool and asset that we utilize to help us solve crimes and keep our community safe where it’s whether it’s riot control, searching for evidence, missing persons, to crowd control. It’s not just parades and I want to ensure the community that this is a law enforcement asset that I will deploy to keep the community safe."
The mounted team's new home is made possible because of a new partnership between the El Paso County Sheriff's Office and the Norris-Penrose Event Center. Sheriff Roybal says he's excited to have the horses become a part of everyday patrols.
"The unit is very important. It keeps our western heritage alive and well here in southern Colorado where we are the only regional mounted unit left. Fort Carson had a mounted colorguard which they no longer have so somebody has to pick up the reigns if you will and takeoff and that is us."
The horses are utilized at parades and events for crowd control but that's not all they do. The sheriff says since horses can cover large areas of land quickly, they're also useful when searching for evidence or even missing people.
"We rode down the street in the community we’re in Cimarron Hills. The amount of people that came out to the doors waving and the children wanted to come in and pack the horses and engaged so it’s a valuable outreach tool that really breaks the ice to where you’re at the children want to come and see the horses the adults wanna see the horses and we received a very warm welcome at that community."
You can expect to see them around town and right here, just in time for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo.
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