Last Gallop for Capitol Police Mounted Unit

"They really didn't even give [the mounted unit] a chance. Chief Gainer has 535 bosses," Campbell said, referring to House and Senate members, "and every one of them thinks they know something about police work, when, in fact, the majority of them don't know one damn thing."

Campbell said the horse patrol unit "earned its keep," especially for helping to control crowds during and after the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony for President Bush. Shutting it down after such a short time is "shortsighted," he said.

"The terrorists are usually in the crowd. Maybe [Moran] doesn't know that," Campbell said. "I heard that he was just worried about stepping in horse manure."

Andy Maybo, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police labor committee for the Capitol Police, said the six officers will be reassigned within the 1,522-member department. The horses will be given to the Park Police.

Instead of staying in Washington, the horses have been trucked in from a federal facility in Northern Virginia, an equine commute that Moran has also criticized. The Capitol Police had hoped to build closer, low-cost modular stables in the District and to eventually build a more permanent facility that would have been shared with other law enforcement agencies.

Maybo and others maintained that an officer on a horse can do the job of 10 officers on foot, especially in crowd and traffic control situations. A horse-mounted officer, they argue, can see "10 people deep" and maneuver to hard-to-get places with greater speed and ease. They said such abilities come in handy when officers are trying to keep people away from suspicious packages or deal with crowds forced to flee Capitol Hill buildings when planes fly into restricted airspace.

Also, they said, an officer on a horse is easier to spot if people need help and is a friendly presence in the neighborhood. The horse patrols, they added, have been useful for policing crowds at concert events on Capitol Hill.

Some members of the public have rallied to back the program. They have started a Web site, http://www.savecapitolpolicehorses.org , urging people to write senators and representatives.

"If there's a crisis going on, you need the unit right there to handle it," said Karen Bune, who teaches victimology at George Mason University. "You can't wait and say, 'Send a horse over here.' "

Moran is unmoved.

"It's far-fetched to say we need them for all these duties," he said. "Why would we want mounted horses in the middle of concerts? That doesn't seem like a rowdy crowd to me."

Moran dismissed Campbell's claim that he might be worried that the horses will make a mess.

"It's really a matter of redundancy," he said. "It's true that I've spent much of my political life stepping in manure, but I'm certainly not worried about stepping in the droppings of the mounted police unit."

Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.