New horse trailer to patrol Garlic Festival
By Rachelle Gines Staff Writer
Gilroy – The police department’s new four-horse trailer and pickup truck will make its rounds at the upcoming Garlic Festival, marking the first time the new equipment will be used at the annual event.
Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal said the unit will go along way to ensuring the public’s safety.
At the combined cost of $63,000 the city purchased the trailer earlier this year. Svardal said the trailer and truck were part of the city’s Capitol Improvement Budget. The Sundowner company manufactured the trailer, and the truck is a 2006 Chevy Crew-Cab Pickup with dual back tires. He said the equipment was bought and paid in full from a local dealership with the lowest bid.
The city budgeted for the purchase of the equipment in it’s 2005-2006 fiscal budget, Svardal said. He added that when purchases are made, the life-span of the equipment is taken into consideration.
“Everything has a life cycle, and provisions were made for the purchase of this trailer. There is a life expectancy of about 15 years, so that is included in the planning process of future budgets,” Svardal said.
Svardal said the trailer and truck were purchased because the original horse trailer and truck were several years old and were showing signs of wear. Secondly, the absence of a mounted unit for the first time at the 1994 Garlic Festival made crowd control difficult for police.
“There was a small riot. It was then that there was a realization that we had to have a mounted unit,” Svardal said.
A mounted officer is valuable because it is equivalent to six regular officers, Svardal said.
“Horses are long and can’t be pushed. They really are worth their weight in gold. Let’s say that a man, who is about the same size and weight approaches me,” Svardal said as he mimed a hypothetical confrontation. “If I’m on a horse he can’t get to me, and since I’m elevated I can see things someone on foot can’t.”
Svardal further added that the horse alone provides a safe barrier for an officer.
“People can yell at people, but people can yell at horses all they want and all the horse hears is blah, blah, blah,” Svardal said.
The new trailer can hold four horses fully saddled, allowing for officers to mount the horses quickly. Svardal opened the front compartment to reveal a variety of horse supplies that included reigns, shovels, and water.
Splashed with a coat of black and white paint that matches patrol cars, the police department’s official emblem appears on either side of the trailer. “Gilroy Mounted Enforcement: The Light Calvary Still Rides,” is painted over the silhouette of a mounted officer carrying an American flag.
The original trailer also held four horses, but only if they were unsaddled, creating time delays, Svardal said. The new truck seats up to six officers, providing another advantage over the smaller truck, he added.
Besides training for mounted officers once a month, Svardal said the trailer is used extensively in park patrol during holidays such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July weekend, as well as the Garlic Festival
Aside from city purposes, Svardal said, the Gilroy Outlets have contacted the department and paid to have mounted officers patrol holiday shopping rushes, particularly Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Rachelle Gines is an intern attending San Francisco State University. Reach her at 847-7158 or rg****@************ch.com.
