KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department will officially disband their Mounted Patrol section on Jan. 10.
The department made the decision to put the Mounted Patrol section on hold in November of 2019.
The officers in that section will move to work regular shifts in hopes of increasing the homicide case clearance rate.
According to a Facebook post from Mounted Patrol member Sgt. Joey Roberts, most of the section's horses will be returned to their original owners over the next several days.
Horses Diesel and Bear are the only two who will not return to their owners. They will be transferred to the Omaha Mounted Police in Nebraska.
"I have been so fortunate to have been able to be a part of something so wonderful for so long. Mounted Patrol has been the most challenging assignment in my career but has by far been the most rewarding, in large part because of each of you in our wonderful community," Sgt. Roberts said in his post. "I apologize for not giving everyone a chance to say their farewells to the horses before they left, but due to time constraints and the simple fact that it was just too emotionally hard we were not able to do so."
According to information posted in The Friends of the KC Mounted Patrol Facebook page, all mounted patrol equipment is being maintained in hopes of eventually bringing the patrol back to Kansas City.
The Mounted Patrol section was part of KCPD for 13 years.
