TRUMBULL COUNTY After 50 years, mounted unit still rides on

The deputies and horses go through training with other mounted units.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Years ago, many counties across the state staffed mounted units as part of their sheriff's departments.
Now there are units in just 28 counties and police departments in Ohio with Trumbull County's as one of the oldest.
The 29-member unit celebrates its 50th anniversary this month.
"Many years ago, every sheriff's department had a posse, then along came the automobile and most departments disbanded them. We're still going," said Lt. Jack Popadak, whose been with the unit for about five years.
In 1953, then-Sheriff Herbert Thomas formed the unit, called the Mounted Posse, styling it on posses of the old west. Its purpose was to search for lost and missing people, conduct manhunts and help with natural disasters.
At that time, members were commissioned officers only when called out by the sheriff. That changed in 1961 when Dr. Robert Barnett, former sheriff, commissioned members of the unit with full police powers.
Handling costs
Each deputy in the mounted unit, which is led by Capt. Charles Baugher, serves without pay and owns his or her own horse. They also assume expenses of being mounted deputies.
"You can go places officers on foot or in a police cruiser can't go -- fields, trails, railroad tracks," Popadak said.
Being on a horse gives an officer a greater vantage point, about eight feet off the ground, than an officer on foot would have. It allows a deputy to see inside of cars and into crowds, he said.
Sheriff Thomas Altiere said the mounted unit was used for crowd control during the Ku Klux Klan rally in Warren a few years ago. They patrol the annual Trumbull County Fair and provide public relations during parades and other community events.
"They're there whenever we need them for anything," Altiere said.
Deputies and their horses train annually with other mounted units from across Ohio. Training together enables deputies to assist in other counties when needed.
"For crowd control, three or four deputies on horseback can easily control 100 people," Popadak said.
Learning formations
The horses form a wedge into a crowd to split it up. They learn other formations to escort vehicles from crowds and rescue an officer from a mob.
Horses are certified, meaning they undergo training along with a deputy. Harming a certified horse, similar to harming a police dog, could be a crime.
Most of the deputies within the unit own two certified horses.
Members of the Trumbull force have traveled to the country music event Jamboree in the Hills in Belmont County as well as the Halloween party at Ohio University in Athens.
They patrol parking lots, ensuring no illegal items are present, control crowds and deter crime.
"We get paid for riding our horses," Popadak said of duties in other counties. "What could be better than that?"