(L to R) PFC Bryan Holden, OFC Dennis Pennese, PFC Bryan Holden of the new Gettysburg Mounted Police. Credit Darah Gardner- Hickman
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 department free use of their horses, tack, training sessions and more. With a background in the military, company owners Doug and Rachel Stephens were compelled to help their fellow officers.
Studies show that community-oriented policing cements neighborhood relationships with officers and improves the level of services offered. Now horses join that effort in Gettysburg.
“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, Patrolman 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 sessions before he passed in 2017. They were experienced and ready to work.
In August of 2019, Gettysburg 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 Pennese, Orth, and Holden. Pennese said Lancaster, PA’s mounted patrol assisted them with training 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: normal 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 anything. 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 of the first times we were on the horses for an actual detail was last year. We had a long dinner party outside, with several blocks of food vendors and other vendors. We were tasked with walking up and down Baltimore Street to make sure everything was safe. Horses make the police look more approachable, very similar to a canine handler. There are very few people I know who are not drawn to a horse. Especially today, it is important that the community is able to talk to and trust their police officers.”
Seeking Nonprofit Status
While they continue to train, these mounted officers are looking to gain nonprofit status.
“Like every borough and township, we are trying to recover from Covid,” Pennese said. “We have no money to put in for special units like a mounted patrol or a bike unit. We are looking to purchase equipment and uniforms and possibly our own horses. We are lucky that [Horse Tours of Gettysburg] doesn’t charge us anything. They even had their truck painted with police colors and decals on it like the patch we had designed, and they let us use all of it.”
Orth said they are working on organizing a search and rescue training next.
In December 2020, the team mobilized the horses and men for a search and rescue of a child lost in the mountains in Franklin County, PA. The horses were loaded when they got a call that the boy had been found. While they did not get to try out their new skills, it was a moment to celebrate.
Orth said horses are perfect for search and rescue.
“Horses have a smaller footprint,” he said. “They can move around things where even a 4-wheeler or a side by side ATV or a 4-wheel drive can’t go, and they are pretty sure-footed in mountainous areas. Plus, you are up high, which gives you a better viewpoint.”
Thanks to the generosity of one family and the willingness of the Gettysburg Police, this small town has gained an invaluable community asset. When asked why the pair wanted to donate so much, Rachel Stephens explained.
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” she said. “We just happened to be able to do it, so why wouldn’t you use the resources you are blessed enough to have and give back to your community? It’s helping our brothers and sisters in arms.”
“We have to keep training and keep training,” Orth said. “But without Rachel and Doug Stephens you and I would not even be talking. They not only donated their horses, but just like the officers, they volunteer to train with us, too. Without them, we would not have this.”