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In response to the recent wave of high-profile crimes in Adams Morgan, the Metropolitan Police Department has adopted a high-profile patrol vehicle: the horse. According to the neighborhood police captain, department brass have decided to deploy the 14-month-old Horse Mounted Unitan eight-person division whose previous duties have included crowd control, community outreach, and traffic enforcement. “Think of yourself on a mobile platform where you sit above the crowd by 4 or 6 feet. Think of the increased visibility you have,” says Lt. Scott Osterhuber, the unit’s commanding officer. Osterhuber says his horses can easily clock 20 miles per hour, enough speed to catch any crook on foot. And when they do go after suspects, the equine cops are immune to the department’s notorious no-chase policy. “I would say the pursuit policy applies to vehicles,” Osterhuber says. “The horse has a different function.” John Metcalfe