By Staff
July 31, 2001
The vision of sheriff's deputies on horseback in search and rescue and crowd control assignments may be one that Lauderdale County is ready to accept. Sheriff Billy Sollie is taking the community's pulse on adding such a unit to an auxiliary patrol division, which was established in 1996.
Sollie's office is gathering information on exactly what might be required of individuals and their horses. He knows some training will be necessary and, if there's enough interest, the vision may become a reality.
Such a unit would add to the resources currently available. One of the questions to be answered is whether it would require any additional public resources. Questions of liability may also come into play.
But, in a larger sense, a mounted auxiliary patrol unit would give volunteers an opportunity to contribute to law enforcement in a meaningful way. We believe this is a good idea and hope enough interest can be found to make it happen.