LAS VEGAS (AP) - Las Vegas police said Monday that amid more than 100 layoffs, the department’s eight-horse equestrian unit is being disbanded as a cost-cutting measure.
In a statement, the department said the largely ceremonial mounted unit was formed in July 1998 with two officers, two horses and a sergeant. It now has four officers, three part-time staffers and a supervising sergeant to handle crowd control and community outreach.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, the elected head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, said last week that with businesses shuttered due to the coronavirus outbreak, and expected tax revenues evaporating, the approximately 6,000-employee department would cut 112 part-time positions effective April 17. Nine of those positions were already vacant.
Two officers and two part-timers will continue until May 1 to transfer the horses to new homes, the department said. Several horses will be retired. One will return to its original owner.
Bicycle patrol officers will handle crowd-control in the Las Vegas Strip area, the department said.
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