Excellent work of mounted police

I would like to bring to the attention of Police Chief Gregory Mullen the fine work and attitude of the city's mounted police.

Old South Carriage Co. has a barn that houses a repair shop and 13 horse stalls near the bottom of the Meeting Street exit of I-26 East (now at Lee and Walnut streets).

Unfortunately, the area was plagued with crime. Under the overpasses, anywhere from 20 to 40 individuals regularly loitered, using drugs and building fires. Some even came into our compound, stealing and throwing cans and rocks at our horses and employees.

I was forced on several occasions to run off individuals who were trespassing and threatening our employees and property. Most of the Old South Carriage Co.'s employees at this facility are female, so we began to keep a male employee on the site at all times to help secure the building. In addition to our barn, there is a Head Start child day care center nearby on Walnut Street. When the mothers dropped off or picked up their children, individuals would run up to them and scare them. There have been stabbings and a murder in the area; drivers were being harassed as they exited I-26 onto Meeting Street; and the criminal activity had spilled over into the adjacent East Side neighborhood.

The situation was clearly out of control, so I decided to approach the mounted police to see what could be done. I met with Sgt. Majeski, who said they would increase patrols in the area. In addition, Sgt. Majeski and Team 1 worked with county law enforcement to use prisoners to clean up the area. They removed a dump truck full of trash, which immediately improved, at least, the visual aspect of the location.

Since that time, mounted police Master Patrol Officer E. Davis and Patrol Officer W. Gritzuk have patrolled the area day and night. Their presence has made all the difference at our barn and I believe in the East Side neighborhood.

Officers Davis and Gritzuk stop by regularly when they are patrolling to see if our associates and the day care mothers are safe. Because of their vigilance, I firmly believe we are all much safer.

Kudos to our dedicated mounted police and Team 1 police. We should all be proud of their extraordinary efforts.

Billy Taylor

General Manager

Old South Carriage Co.

Anson Street

Charleston