Criminal Justice Students Visit HPD Mounted Patrol Stable
By Cynthia Gonzales
Recently, UHD Criminal Justice students gained hands-on knowledge about the Houston Police Department’s (HPD) Mounted Patrol.
On November 29, 2018, University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) students toured HPD’s Mounted Patrol Stable. The Mounted Patrol Unit consists of well-trained officers and horses assisting with Downtown patrol, special events and crowd control.
UHD adjunct professor Nhatthien “Nathan” Nguyen, who also is a Commander with the HPD, sponsored the tour as part of his CJ 2301 class, Police System.
Mounted Patrol officers Tyson Huffstedler and Horace Mann provided a brief history of Mounted Patrol Unit, its training/safety protocol, operational procedures and personnel selection process.
Students also had the chance to interact with the horses by feeding carrots to them. The officers walked through each horse’s stable and pointed out the sponsor(s) of the horses, each horse’s name and personality.
The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) is the second-largest university in Houston and has served the educational needs of the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1974. As one of four distinct public universities in the University of Houston System, UHD is a comprehensive, four-year university led by President Loren J. Blanchard. Annually, UHD educates approximately 14,000 students, boasts more than 66,000 alumni, and offers 45 bachelor’s degrees, 12 master’s degrees, and 19 online programs within four colleges: Marilyn Davies College of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Public Service, and College of Sciences and Technology. UHD has one of the lowest tuition rates in Texas.
U.S. News and World Report ranked UHD among the nation’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Applied Administration and Best Online Master’s Programs in Criminal Justice, as well as a Top Performer in Social Mobility. The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse ranked UHD one of the best colleges in the U.S. for its 2024 rankings, with notable distinctions: No. 1 for diversity (tied) and No. 3 for student experience. The University is designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a Minority-Serving Institution, and a Military Friendly School. For more information on the University of Houston-Downtown, visit uhd.edu.
