Newark Police Horse Unit Rides Again

Inside an unassuming green warehouse off Newark's Orange Street, the enduring relationship between the Newark Police Department and the horses they have ridden for 120 years are displayed.

Old black and white photos show police officers proudly astride horses during parades. And inside the rest of the green warehouse are neatly kept stables that smell faintly of cedar shavings and storage rooms full of cared for saddles, stirrups and bridles ready for city patrol.

They signal the headquarters of the Newark Police Department's Traffic Mounted Section, a long-respected arm of the agency, which was until recently in danger of being shut down and put out to pasture due to budget cuts.

But the department's top brass and local business owners rallied to its aid and now the mounted unit is back on patrol.

"Ear to ear smiles — absolutely," said Lt. Eric Ingold, head of the mounted squad, about his fellow officers' response to news they were to be saved.

Under then Police Director Garry McCarthy, a decision was made last year to shut down the unit, which dates back to 1891 — well before the advent of the automobile and motorcycles, according to police officials.

In January, the mounted squad, which had a high of 19 horses, was down to six around December and January, according to Ingold. Many of the horses that were culled from the department either went to different police departments or the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, which tries to find homes for retired race horses.

The horses had originally come from the foundation, Ingold said. The police horses, all male, were formerly used for harness racing.

When the mounted unit was shut down, many of the officers were saddened as the horses were carted off to new homes, said Ingold.

"The reaction of people was not positive. It was upsetting," he said.

Detective Josephine Santaniello, police spokeswoman, put it more bluntly: "It's like losing your partner."

For the remaining horses, officers who were reassigned to different units still came back to the stables to take care of the animals, Santaniello said.

"They are like a family member. You don't just abandon them," she said.

But when Acting Police Director Samuel DeMaio was named to his current post in May, Santaniello said one of the first things he wanted back was the mounted unit.

"It's very important to him," said Santaniello. "These mount have been here forever. It's like a history of the Newark Police Department. To just leave the whole unit was unheard of for him (DeMaio)."

The agency sought to raise money through the Newark Police Foundation, which doles out cash for different police programs, said Sgt. Ronald Glover, who helped lead the fundraising efforts.

About $20,000 was raised recently from a couple Newark businesses, including the Josloff Glass Company, Glover said.

Because of the donations, the unit is back with now around 11 horses, two of which are being trained for police work, Ingold and Santaniello said. The squad currently has 10 officers.

Police Officer Louis Camacho, who has been with the unit for 10 years, was training one of the new horses in the interior workout ring on a recent morning.

"We couldn't be any happier," he said about the unit getting reinstated.

The unit has its own horse shoe shop where Mario Nodari, 80, comes in about three times a week to shoe the horses. He has an anvil and a small furnace to shape and meld ready made horse shoes.

"I like the guys here," he said. "I come when they need me."

Police Officer Richard Miller, a 19-year veteran of the unit, has gained much knowledge about equine behavior and science while breaking in new horses, one of the officers' many tasks besides cleaning up the stables.

"Over the course of 19 years, I have learned a lot and am still learning," he said. "Every horse is different. It's 1,200 pound animal with a brain. You treat them with respect and they treat you with respect."

And the community treats the horses with respect, Ingold said, and many times with affection and wonder.

"Kids and citizens — they are not going to run to a police car," he said. "But, guaranteed every time, a handful of kids will come up to the horses. They will pet the horse. It opens up a dialogue between police and the community."

For more information on the unit or to make a donation to keep police horses on the streets of Newark, call Sgt. Ronald Glover at (201) 396-4636 or make out a check to the Newark Police Foundation, care of Sgt. Ronald Glover and mail to 31 Green Street, Fourth Floor, Newark NJ 07103.