Police horses coming to a street near you?

THE police’s four-legged recruits are joining the fight against anti-social behaviour and could soon become a regular sight on the streets of Yeovil.

The mounted section has launched a summer campaign and will be visiting areas across Bristol and Somerset to support local beat teams in keeping you safe.

The mounted officers are able to cover more ground than officers on foot and are also able to cover parks and small lanes that our patrol cars can't.

PC Kimberley Parr, who launched the campaign with PC Ted Grabowski, said: "The horses are always a big crowd puller and allow us to engage with lots of people who might not usually want to talk to the police.

"When riding the horses we can see a lot more than officers on the ground and this allows us to respond quickly to any incidents of anti-social behaviour or other crime.

"As well as residential areas and back lanes we can also cover large parks and play areas that are very busy during the summer months. However Anti-social Behaviour is not an issue which only relates to young people - it can be any rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour, vandalism or graffiti, street drinking or other problems.

"It is something that can make people feel unsafe and this can have a devastating impact on people's lives. We want to make sure all our communities feel safe and will be doing all we can to support the local teams in achieving this."

The mounted officers will be going out in pairs and will be focused on the summer campaign at least three to four shifts a week.

Pilot areas have been identified in Bristol and Bridgwater and if it goes well the initiative will be rolled out across the force area.

Avon and Somerset's police horses are based at Bower Ashton, Bristol, but travel around the whole force area as required.

They are regularly involved in searching for missing people, the policing of football matches and other large scale events, crowd control and the pursuit of suspects.

Anyone who would like to report anti-social behaviour in their area can do so by speaking to the mounted officers when they are out and about, by calling 101 or by reporting it through our website.

To see if the horses are in your area visit their Twitter page @ASPoliceHorses .

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