Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mounted police: The best PR for law enforcement there is

BMP at work
Where I live (Bethlehem, PA) there is a big annual event called Musikfest. It has evolved into something really, really big, and there are a lot of people there, and there is no admission charge for most events, and the beer is freely flowing. You can imagine what this means for an event that is designed to be family-oriented. There is a goth crowd, there is a hip-hop crowd, and there are guys and women that imbibe a bit too much. In the last few years, there have been a number of incidents that require police intervention.

Several years ago, Bethlehem introduced a mounted police unit (Bethlehem Mounted Police, or BMP).  Horse people know that this ain't cheap, and there has been some controversy in the city about the expense. Fortunately, this unit has a lot of supporters. The mounted unit has a blog, and a Facebook page, and t-shirts and mugs, and Paypal account for donations (guess who is a regular donor?), and a lot of citizen supporters. Finally, last year, the BMP some corporate support in the form of a helluva nice tow vehicle and trailer. I think the Bethlehem Mounted Police been marketed brilliantly, and I'm so glad!

A side benefit of the BMP's presence is that children form a good impression of the police, and also animals. A lot of kids don't get to see horses in the course of their everyday lives. I think the BMP is awesome for so many reasons, but I hope they continue to thrive.

My photo from Sat, August 3



3 comments:

  1. ValAugust 8, 2013 at 8:26 AM

    I grew up in Hackettstown, NJ and have been to the Musikfest many times over the years. It is truly a one-of-a-kind event made even better by BMP. I love seeing working horses.

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  2. RiderWriterAugust 8, 2013 at 5:11 PM

    LOVE the expression on that little boy's face!! Yes, mounted police are a wonderful asset to any area. The town next to mine used to have a unit, and they did great demos for Scout groups so I saw them in that milieu several times. Unfortunately, the taxpayers decided the horses were too expensive and they had to go... :-( We still have them in the City of St. Louis, though!

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  3. AnonymousAugust 8, 2013 at 9:15 PM

    I feel the same way about our local mounted police unit here in Portland, Oregon. They were in danger of being shut down due to lack of funding, but they're doing a bang-up job reaching out to the community with their local events and social media outlets. Over 16,000 fans! https://www.facebook.com/saveportlandsmountedpatrol I imagine, and hope, they are out of the woods now. And yes, guess who's a supporter! (me:) Love them! ~Julie

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