Ottawa police mounted unit ‘a game changer,’ chief says

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Police officers on horseback are a “force multiplier” that can be worth 10 or 12 officers on foot when crowds gather, Police Chief Eric Stubbs told members of the Ottawa Police Services Board on Nov. 23.

The question of Ottawa’s fledgling mounted unit came up as members of the board’s finance and audit committee reviewed the Ottawa police 2025 budget, which calls for a $16.3-million increase to $388.7 million in 2025. That’s about $717 a year for the average homeowner.

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The mounted unit will cost $1.4 million annually and is being paid for with money from the provincial and federal governments.

Stubbs called a mounted unit a “game changer” and said people were telling him Ottawa needed mounted police when he first arrived as chief in November 2022.

“I needed to be convinced so I started to do my own research, primarily by talking to other police services that had mounted units,” he said.

“One horse can equate to 10 to 12 officers in terms of boots on the ground,” he said, adding he’s seen protests in the city where horses would have been useful.

“I thought, if we had the horses here, that would be incredible, having that wedge to separate groups. it’s a very slow and methodical movement of people from one area to where you want them to go.”

Ottawa’s mounted unit officers have completed four weeks of training with the RCMP and in the new year will be in Toronto to train with its mounted unit. Toronto regularly deploys officers on horseback for crowd control and on busy bar nights when thousands flood into the streets after last call.

Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson said the Ottawa unit will be used in this city for the same task, especially in the ByWard Market.

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“We’ve had many situations where something has happened in the crowd and we’ve had officers on the ground or even on bicycles who don’t have the line of sight to see what’s going on” Ferguson told the committee. “When you have officers (on horseback) in those situations, they have a much better line of sight. With the use of radios, they can communicate to other officers, direction of travel and things like that.”

The horses command respect, she said.

“When people see them, they get out of the way. Which is a very good decision.”

Ottawa’s last mounted unit was disbanded in 1993 after three years of service. It was used primarily for community relations and for ceremonial purposes.

“This unit will have a much more operational focus,” Ferguson said.

Sofia Chaudhry, a private citizen who made a presentation to the committee to oppose more police spending, said she feared the use of horses would only increase “police violence.” Earlier this week, police used bicycles to push back a crowd protesting the Israeli strikes on Palestinians, she said.

“How much more of that physical harm would be caused if that had been a row of mounted police?” Chaudhry said.

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“I guess I could argue that people could just move out of the way,” replied Coun. Cathy Curry, a member of the committee.

Ferguson said police will prepare more information about the mounted unit that will be shared with the Police Service Board and the public.

“I do think we will need to be putting together something for the community,” Ferguson said. “It’s something that’s unknown to a lot people and there are assumptions that are being made about the use of the horses.”

The Police Services Board meets to debate and vote on its budget on Dec. 2. The full city council will hold its final budget vote on Dec. 11.

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