Plan for horse patrols at Pioneer Park trotted out

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson wants to spend $4.7 million to spruce up Pioneer Park. City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton thinks she could do it with a couple of horses.

If Saxton's proposal comes to fruition, Pioneer Park could join the ranks of New York City's Central Park, Washington, D.C., and Canada — it could be patrolled by horse-mounted police.

"This is the Wild West, and there's no reason we can't have horses around," said Saxton, whose council district includes the park.

But Anderson said his plan has come after a "very comprehensive public planning process," called for and funded by the council, and Saxton's idea would fall short of the city's goals for the park.

Her idea is for a pilot program, to cost no more than $100,000 every five months for the next two years, that would put two mounted officers in the park five days a week for 10-hour shifts each day. Such a program would increase the police presence at the crime-ridden park, but it would do something else foot or bicycle officers couldn't do, she believes.

"When I've seen horses around the public, kids love to come up to them and pet them, adults love to come up to them and pet them," Saxton said. As Saxton sees it, the park's biggest problem isn't the homeless people who frequent the park. It's the park's reputation as a haven for drugs and crime that keeps people away, and when the public stays away, the criminals feel more at home.

"There's this real kind of magnetic appeal and almost a calming effect (when horses are involved). My hope is that it will create a police presence and it will be unique enough that people in the city, the valley and the tourists will say, 'Let's go see the horses.' "

The mayor says it would not be enough.

"You're still left with nothing but 10 acres of grass," he said. "You need the amenities. You need to provide what it is at a park like Liberty Park that makes it a welcoming, hospitable, safe place. Having a police presence can be important in running criminals away, but it's not going to be what it takes to attract people."

Anderson wants to see the park livened up with such features as a dog park, cafe, bell tower, historic gardens and volleyball courts.

Saxton said her idea hinges on having a police force that is supportive. She has been meeting with the Salt Lake City Police Department's new chief, Chris Burbank, who was sworn in in late March, to ask each other questions and hash out the feasibility of a mounted patrol.

Burbank said he is open to the idea — if a little research convinces him it can work. He said his biggest concern is whether the city would be able to sustain such a program after its two-year trial program. He would oppose a plan that would require the investment and effort on an experimental basis and then would die for lack of continued funding.

Saxton hopes her plan will move forward, and if it does, she thinks the first patrols could begin as soon as early June. She said at least four, and maybe five, of the seven council members have told her they are behind the idea.

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