Local News in Brief : Mounted Police to Ride Herd on Malls
Mounted policemen have been assigned to ride herd on Christmas holiday thieves at five San Fernando Valley shopping malls, Los Angeles Police Department officials said Friday.
The patrols on horseback will begin operating Friday at Topanga Plaza and Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park, the Promenade Mall in Woodland Hills, Northridge Fashion Center and in commercial areas of Van Nuys. They have already begun at Laurel Plaza in North Hollywood, police said.
The officers will look out for thieves who steal autos or who take items left in parked cars.
Devonshire and North Hollywood division officers who belong to the 50-member police mounted unit will patrol in Northridge and North Hollywood. The unit will also supply riders for the West Valley Division, which has no mounted officers of its own available, and for use in Van Nuys, said the horse patrol coordinator, Officer John Aitken.
Although some mall operators initially objected to the idea of horses being used in their parking lots--citing sanitation problems and the intimidating appearance of mounted officers--”that’s been ironed out,” said Capt. Forrest G. Llewelyn of the West Valley Division.
Llewelyn said he anticipates using the horse patrol to supplement a special 10-officer foot patrol assigned to the same malls through Dec. 28.
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