HUNTINGTON BEACH : Officers Saddle Up, Mount New Patrol

When Officer Sue Martinez heard that the Huntington Beach Police Department was planning to create a mounted patrol, she immediately signed up for the new unit.

She then spent $1,250 of her own money to purchase Bandit, a quarter horse “ideally suited for the road ahead.”

Martinez and six of her colleagues mounted their horses and paraded before a handful of onlookers Friday in the official debut of the new patrol.

Police Chief Ronald Lowenberg said the mounted patrol would help combat auto theft and the city’s “small gang problem” in its Central Park area. Figures released this week revealed that auto thefts have risen 21% over the last year.

The patrol is the brainchild of Sgt. Gary Brooks, who also supervises the department’s helicopter unit.

Brooks, who owns and keeps several horses in Riverside, where he lives, said he had gotten the idea from a friend who heads the Santa Ana Police Department’s mounted patrol unit.

Lowenberg said he was optimistic that the mounted patrol, with its mobility, could deter crime.

While Lowenberg said most residents seem to support the mounted patrols, a few expressed reservations.

Jean Polkow, a grandmother of five, has asked the City Council to withdraw the patrol.

“I’m from Texas and I’ve been around horses since I began to walk,” Polkow said. “There is a chance of the horses hurting some innocent kid, even if they only go to the parking lots in the beaches.”

Lt. Ed McErlain said police had no plans “to trek through sunbathers,” adding that the horses would be used strictly for patrols, parades and emergency duties. He said the department would review the patrol and decide in August whether to continue the program.

Martinez said she and her colleagues are excited about their new assignment.

“Horses are fun to work with,” she said. “They are very powerful, but very giving. All they want to do is please you.”