New Taipei's Mounted Police Face Budget Questions in Year of the Horse
New Taipei's mounted police team has been patrolling for 20 years. But this part-time unit is facing a shrinking budget and questions about its future as the Year of the Horse begins.
Mounted Police in New Taipei: An Uncertain Future
REPORTER:
For twenty years, now, specially trained mounted police have been keeping the citizens of New Taipei safe. They've won praise for their discipline and skill in that time too. And appearances at events like last year’s National Day parade have boosted their visibility.
REPORTER:
Joining the mounted police takes a special commitment: there’s training and equestrian certification—but also because the mounted police isn’t a dedicated, full-time unit. There are regular deployments each week, but once they’re over, its members return to some other job elsewhere in the force.
REPORTER:
One member, a domestic violence prevention officer by career, says all the extra work is satisfying.
Chen Shu-ying (NEW TAIPEI MOUNTED POLICE):
It’s really therapeutic.
I joined because I really like animals.
Exercising, going on duty and working with horses
is much more stress-relieving than my original job.
REPORTER:
Another member, who mostly works as a forensic detective, says the horses have their good and bad days just like human officers—but it’s good to be able to spend time with them on the job.
Lin You-tsung (NEW TAIPEI MOUNTED POLICE):
They have their own mind and nature.
They can be impatient or unhappy
or maybe they’re unwell on a given day.
If they’re in a resistant mood on a given day
we try not to push them too hard on duty.
REPORTER:
But there are questions about how much longer this part-time mounted police force can hold on because unlike other branches of the police, it’s hard to quantify what the police on horseback do for taxpayers and justify the expense.
Huang Chun-yu (NEW TAIPEI MOUNTED POLICE):
The city council and some people
have doubts about the budget
so our funding has been reduced somewhat.
We don’t have quotas or targets
like traffic or criminal police do.
Our goal is to ensure better safety [where we patrol].
REPORTER:
So this Year of the Horse could be an important one for deciding whether mounted officers will continue to work the streets of Taiwan’s largest municipality.
