May 2021 Issue

Page 6 May 2021 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN By Lois Szymanski Steeped in history, the small town of Gettysburg, PA is turning to community-oriented policing, a strategy of policing that focuses on strengthening relationships with residents. The department already utilizes bike patrols, foot patrols and neighborhood beats. Just one community policing component was missing, until someone stepped forward to add that tool -- a mounted patrol. With 72 horses and multiple resources to offer, the owners of Horse Tours of Gettysburg in 2017 offered the Gettysburg police de- partment free use of their horses, tack, training sessions and more. With a background in the mili- tary, company owners Doug and Rachel Stephens were compelled to help their fellow officers. Studies show that commu- nity-oriented policing cements neighborhood relationships with officers and improves the level of services offered. Now horses join that effort in Gettysburg. Thanks to Benefactors, Gettysburg, PAAdds a Mounted Patrol “I think, because of the history, and all the reenactors that come through town, horses seem appropriate for this town,” said Master Police Officer William Orth, who rides with the patrol. “We have about a million and a half to two million visitors a year, plus day trippers and people who pass through because it is on a major route.” Training began in 2017, with officers MPO William Orth, Pa- trolman First Class Bryan Holden and Patrolman Terry DeWitt finishing their 30 hour Mounted Law Enforcement Operations certification in the fall of 2017. Patrolman Dennis Pennese had already finished his certification in 2010. The mounted patrol started with Jim Kralik, former owner of Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg. Retired from the New York Mounted Police, Kralik had hosted extensive mounted police trainings at Artillery Ridge where horses and riders from around the country received crowd control training, extraction training, and more. Several of the Stephens family horses trained at Kralik’s ses- sions before he passed in 2017. They were experienced and ready to work. In August of 2019, Get- tysburg Borough police chief, Robert Glenny announced that the Gettysburg police would begin a test run of horse-mounted police officers in the borough. While they are not yet working the streets, the mounted patrol has appeared at numerous special events, including escorting Santa through town in December 2020. The team now includes Pen- nese, Orth, and Holden. Pennese said Lancaster, PA’s mounted patrol assisted them with train- ing for some time, until Covid showed up. “They were great, very helpful,” Orth said. “They had a lot of knowledge and training tools, things that would make a horse feel uncomfortable, like something we had to walk through with plastic strips, like an automated car wash with fingers. It gets them used to this sort of thing. We worked on formations in the four-day training: nor- mal formation, V-formation and formations that deal with crowd control. We also used smoke bombs, lights flashing on police cars, shooting munitions gun into a barrel to get them used to gunfire. At one of our trainings, a local deejay came in to play loud noises. It gets them used to things. Part of the training was to have people run up to you and to simulate large crowds, to wave a flag, a jacket or a pool noodle.” Orth said he has trained with several horses, including one that spent most of its life with the NYPD mounted patrol. “When I was riding that horse, she didn’t react to any- thing. She knew exactly what to do,” he said. Although they have been on the streets of Gettysburg, Pennese said they are not yet patrolling. “Covid made things turn slow moving,” he said, “but we are back into training now. We are hoping to get out on the streets to do some patrolling this summer.” The experience of working from the saddle is a good one for Orth. “It feels amazing,” he said. “People want to approach you. They seem to open up more. The kids are enthralled by it. We have gotten a lot of good feedback from some of the residents. One (Continued on page 7) (L to R) Master Police Officer William Orth, Officer First Class Dennis Pennese, and Patrol Officer First Class Bry- an Holden of the Gettysburg Mounted Patrol on the Gettysburg Battlefield. Photo credit: Darah Gardner-Hickman