San Diego

By unanimous vote, the San Diego City Council expanded the Police Department’s 2 1/2-year-old horse-mounted patrol Monday. The council budgeted an additional $162,899 this fiscal year to construct new stalls, buy three horses and hire three more police officers and a laborer. For this fiscal year, the council has already authorized $250,000 for the patrol, which now consists of six officers and seven horses. The additional money will allow police on horseback to patrol Balboa Park seven days a week, council consultant Ernie Anderson said. The horses are also used on patrols downtown and at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. Council members did not comment on the expenditures until after the 7-0 vote, when Deputy Mayor Bill Mitchell, who was chairing the meeting in the mayor’s absence, neighed loudly. “Wheeee!” Mitchell said. “We have horses, new horses!”