Miami Beach weighs horseback police patrols for 2028 amid commission opposition

Miami Beach officials are considering bringing horseback patrols back to the city’s police department, with Mayor Steven Meiner and Police Chief Wayne Jones seeking a unit that could help manage large crowds by 2028. The proposal depends on securing funding and has drawn opposition from Commissioner David Suarez.

Meiner is leading the effort alongside Jones, presenting mounted officers as a way to deter crime and support police operations. At an October commission meeting, the mayor said the proposal would be considered in finance and urged that it advance to the commission. Supporters envision horses providing another option for crowd control and engagement with the community.

The proposed unit would have an expected initial cost of $500,000, which Meiner said would be covered by donations. He said officials had not yet determined whether funding for the project would come from the city budget or the police department’s budget. Meiner also argued that the proposal would save money, while Jones said the first year’s operating costs would place no expense on Miami Beach or its residents.

Suarez, who criticized the proposal in a recent newsletter, disputes whether mounted patrols should be a priority even with donor support. He described the effort as a vanity project for the mayor and police department. Citing the passage of Amendment 3, Suarez said residents need tax cuts and argued that the city cannot afford projects of this kind.

The commissioner also raised concerns beyond funding. He questioned how the city would handle horse waste and whether Miami Beach’s heat and high humidity would make the work harmful to the animals. Those conditions, Suarez said, raised concerns about potential animal abuse.

Meiner rejected the suggestion that the patrols would involve animal cruelty. He pointed to mounted units at other law enforcement agencies and said horses could give officers an advantage when monitoring crowds. As an example, he described thousands of people gathering on Ocean Drive and an officer positioned 10 feet above the ground.

Horseback policing is already used by agencies in the area, including the City of Miami Police, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and Coral Gables. The proposal would bring that approach back to Miami Beach, which has operated mounted units during more than one period of its history.

The city’s police used horses in the 1930s before discontinuing that program because of World War II. Mounted units also served Miami Beach through much of the 1980s and the early 1990s.