The Bodrum Police Department is launching a new, mounted patrol unit to provide security. The new mounted police are hitting the streets in Bodrum just in time for the holiday season, city officials said.
Bodrum held a special ceremony with Fenerbahçe footballer Semih Åžentürk to introduce the newest members of Bodrum’s police force. 4 horses and riders toured around Cevat Åžakir Avenue, Ä°skele Square and Cumhuriyet Avenue. Chief of the MuÄŸla Police Department Kadir Ay also rode one of the horses.
Shop owners, tourists and locals in the town showed great interest in the mounted police teams.
Speaking to press members, Ay said horses had made big contributions to security services. “Today there are many examples of these services in the most developed countries.â€
He said horses were important in terms of social relations, and that this was one of the reasons why they had formed mounted police teams. “Horses are scary and dissuasive for people planning criminal acts. We had previously piloted the same service in Marmaris, and it will continue in Fethiye until the end of the tourism season,†Ay said.
Bodrum is one of the first tourist towns to have such units and will also debut in parts of the southern provinces of Antalya and MuÄŸla, Milas and Fethiye. Should the plan prove successful, it will be launched in other towns as well. The move came after the MuÄŸla Police Department requested mounted police units in its towns to ensure the safety of local and foreign tourists after the successful implementation of a mounted gendarme system in the Antalya town of Manavgat.
As part of the plan, two police officers from the Ankara Police Department with horses will arrive at towns in MuÄŸla and Antalya, while three police officers and horses will be sent from Antalya and Erzurum to patrol towns until the end of summer. The mounted police units will be patrolling during daylight hours and will stop patrolling at night.
Source: todayszaman.com / kenttv.net
