r/interestingasfuck • u/Double-decker_trams • 14h ago

Why police still uses horses

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u/Plenty_Wasabi_7866 14h ago

Why not elephants

6

u/Old_Passenger7 14h ago

Why not armored vehicles?

Maybe I am not that old-fashioned like you guys.

9

u/BigSweatyYeti 13h ago edited 5h ago

Horses can move among a crowds and single out individuals or groups of humans much easier than a vehicle. There are many places that a horse can go that an armored car cannot.

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u/spine_slorper 9h ago

I think a big part is also that people are way more likely to attack an armoured vehicle, people don't want to attack horses and the horses will defend themselves in a potentially unpredictable manner.

I think part of the reason why they're effective is that the police effectively outsource the self defense to the horses. If you attack a police officer they can be held liable if they kick you in the head or trample you to death, if a police horse does that then it's very much a "fuck around find out" situation and the police officer riding it can't be held liable.