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Courtesy of The Washington Times

Police Sgt. Robin Szewczyk patrols the Columbia Heights neighborhood on horseback as part of the District's efforts to quash gang violence in the area.

DAVID C. LIPSCOMB

Metropolitan Police have deployed officers on horseback to patrol a Northwest neighborhood plagued by gang violence.
The deployment, which officials describe as indefinite, started in November at 14th and Girard streets, where a spate of gang violence has been attributed to retaliation for the August killing of Tayon Glover, the brother of local musician and television actor Anwan "Big G" Glover.
"We were asked to participate in patrols up there to deal with some of the shootings," said Cmdr. James Crane, head of the department's Special Operations Division.
Officials have stationed a horse trailer on 14th and Girard streets. The unit patrols two eight-hour shifts, seven days a week, with one or two mounted officers on each shift.
The deployment of the unit is the latest effort to quell outbreaks of violence in the neighborhood.
Police targeted the area a year and a half ago with one of the city's first neighborhood surveillance cameras. The D.C. Council last year also approved $3 million to be used in the neighborhood for gang-prevention initiatives and for installing the ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system.
Still, hundreds of shots have been exchanged during several shootings in recent months by small gangs of youths known as crews. Police officials said that by mid-November more than 150 shots had been fired in a single block of Hobart Place near Georgia Avenue since October.
Police say deploying the mounted unit is an effort to increase visibility and improve relations with residents in the neighborhood.
"Some people start looking, then they see it's OK," said Officer Thomas Stewart, who patrolled the area this week atop Samson, an 8-year-old Clydesdale. "Next thing you know, they're pulling out camera phones, taking pictures."
Officer Stewart greeted passers-by, who mostly kept their eyes on the horse as they walked past. Several stopped to pet the horse or ask questions about it, often ignoring Officer Thomas' greetings.
The officer said residents are fascinated by the horse and that he even has had known drug dealers approach him with their children to see the horse.
Cmdr. Crane said the unit was put on regular assignment to familiarize the officers with the crime hot spots in the community that the normal beat-patrol officers manage.
"It is not unusual, as they have been to many other areas in the city in response to crime, such as robberies, assaults, thefts," he said. "They are usually used for crowd control when there are large events that MPD has jurisdiction over."
The crews, which usually consist of a few to a dozen youths, long have been a problem in D.C. neighborhoods, often getting into long-term disputes over petty incidents that escalate into shootings and retaliatory attacks.
D.C. Council member Jim Graham, Ward 1 Democrat — who criticized D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier's community-policing strategy after a violent Halloween night during which four persons were shot in the area in gang-related violence — said he welcomed the patrols and wants to see more of them because they engage residents.
"Young people like them; old people like them," Mr. Graham said. "They come up and pet the horses. It increases visibility and interaction with the community."
Some residents said they like the patrols.
"The importance of it is building the sense of community with police," said Ruici Tio, 24, who lives in the neighborhood. "It's a first step in changing the culture."
Coffie Davis, 32, said he thinks the horses help deter crime.
"They don't bother me," he said. "I like to see them out here."
But Devin Wilson, 28, was skeptical.
"It's not going to work," she said. "There's still too much [crime] happening."

Story From: The Washington Times

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