Organized in 1958 and presently consisting of twenty eight active members, The Mounted Unit is comprised of both full time and volunteer personnel who donate their time and talent to the unit dealing with traffic control, crowd control and community relations.
Sheriff William Hoop Jr. and Chief Deputy Raymond Bechtol formed the Mounted Deputies, a volunteer organization, April 1, 1958.
Sheriff’s Deputies involved with the Mounted Unit are responsible (at their cost) for the boarding, feeding, and overall care of their Mounted Horses. The Mounted Patrol provides crowd control at various events throughout Ohio and is essential to the Sheriff’s Office operations. The Mounted Patrol also participates and represents the Sheriff’s Office at parades, rallies, festivals and lends mutual aid to jurisdictions that request Mounted Patrol.
The unit grew throughout the years and began working various other special events such as Athens Halloween Festival, Jamboree in the Hills, Rallies throughout Ohio and emergency responses to missing persons. It is much easier for deputies to monitor various terrains on horseback than on foot or in vehicles. The horses help the deputies see over longer distances and travel throughout these areas more quickly. A mounted police horse can cover as much ground as ten men.
In addition to attending parades and patrolling the Coshocton County Fair, this group spends many hours working on drills and formations; training on search and recovery; and exercising their animals on many trail rides.
For more information about the Mounted Deputies and possible membership, contact the Sheriff’s Office at (740) 622-2411 or email us: sheriffcrawford@coshoctoncounty.net
