Fairmount Park stable planned for new police mounts

The Philadelphia Police Department’s mounted patrol unit will soon have a new base.

The police plan calls for a $1.2 million stable to rise in Fairmount Park near Belmont Plateau. The construction site is right next to McCarthy Stables.

The barn will be built by a foundation with help from donations, including union labor.

Maureen Rush of the foundation said the group will raise money any way they can to build the barn.

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“From every level, from grassroots on our website, to events where the commissioner is scooping ice cream and everything in between,” she said.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he talked about bringing back the mounted patrol even before he took the job because those officers and their horses are great representatives of the force.

“I’ve seen mounted officers go into some of the roughest neighborhoods of a city where people are afraid to come out,” he said. “You bring a horse in there, people come out they want to interact. All these things start to happen.”

Mayor Michael Nutter and Ramsey are asking people to “pony up” to bring the horses into their new home.

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