Sri Lanka Mounted Police Near Methodist Church Kandy

The Sri Lanka Police Mounted Division is the mounted division of the

Sri Lanka Police Sri Lanka Police (; ) is the civilian national police force of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The police force is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the p ...

. The responsibility of the division is to conduct safe policing of

crowd control Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundre ...

at large public order events and provide ceremonial escorts. The police mounted division is under purview of the DIG - Colombo Range and control of a SSP - Mounted Division and has a strength of two Inspectors, four Sub-Inspectors, 10 sergeants, 34 constables with 60 horses.

History

The unit was formed in 1921 at the former premises of the

Royal College Colombo Royal College, Colombo also known as; Royal Colombo, Colombo Royal College or Colombo Royal) is a boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started by Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Si ...

in St Sebastian Hill,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. At its formation, the unit was limited to British personnel and consisted of eight mounted sergeants and constables, who were later promoted to sub-inspector grade. Gazetted Officers were also trained in equestrian. During

Royal visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of a sovereign country (or representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or representative) of that foreign country, with th ...

s mounted policemen joined in with the

Ceylon Mounted Rifles Ceylon Mounted Rifles ( ''The Horse'') was the only cavalry regiment attached to the Ceylon Defence Force which was the predecessor to the Sri Lanka Army prior to 1949 when the Ceylon Army was formed. It was a volunteer ( reserve) regiment was b ...

in providing mounted escorts starting in 1925. With the disbandment of the Ceylon Mounted Rifles in 1931, the mounted police took on the role of providing mounted escorts as the Governor's Bodyguard on ceremonial occasions including independence celebrations in 1948. Following independence three Ceylonese was admitted to the unit for the first time. On the morning of March 22, 1952, Prime Minister

D. S. Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake (; ; 20 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, having emerged as the leader of the Sri Lankan independence movement that led to the establishment ...

was riding the police mare 'Chitra'. He suffered a stroke and fell (dying several hours later) at the

Galle Face Green Galle Face Green is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, alth ...

. He was accompanied by Inspector Eddie Grey, who would later become the first Ceylonese head of the mounted police.In memory of their kindness
/ref> In 1956, the police mounted division was formed with a Sub-Inspector, two Police Sergeants and 22 Police Constables with 23 thoroughbred horses imported from Australia.

Units

* Mounted Division HQ & Stables,

* Training Stables,

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( ; ) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landsc ...

* Stables,

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

* Police College,

Kalutara Kalutara (, ) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique posit ...

Duties

*Ceremonial Mounted Escorts for ** Heads of states ** Visiting Royals and foreign VIPs ** Ambassadors and High Commissioners when presenting

letter of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal Diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to an ...

** Ceremonial opening of parliament * Crowd control during; **National day celebrations **

Esala Perahera The Kandy Esala Perahera (the Sri Dalada Perahara procession of Kandy) also known as The Festival of the Tooth is a festival held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred T ...

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

**Sports events **Demonstrations (disperse unruly crowds) *Patrol **Colombo city **Beach

Uniform

For important ceremonial occasions, mounted policemen wear the

full-dress Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, i ...

red uniform (unique to the mounted division), which is a red tunic, black pantaloons, with a gold cross belt and a black

custodian helmet The custodian helmet is a type of helmet worn predominantly by male police officers in the United Kingdom and within certain other places around the world. First used by the Metropolitan Police in London in 1863, the BBC labelled the custodian h ...

. On a lesser ceremonial occasion they may wear full-dress mounted white uniform (unique to the mounted division), which includes white tunic; trousers; medals; with gazetted officers' uniforms adorned with black

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scale ...

s with rank insignia, a black leather cross belt with the lion head badge with whistle and chain, police badge affixed black leather pouch and sword with a white coloured

pith helmet The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish Empire, Spanish military adaptation of the nat ...

. White gauntlets gloves are worn.

Gazetted officer A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establish ...

s carry swords drawn, while sergeants and constables carry

lances The English term lance is derived, via Middle English ''wikt:launce#Noun 3, launce'' and Old French ''wikt:lance#Old French, lance'', from the Latin ''wikt:lancea#Noun, lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear or javelin employed by both infant ...

with a police pennant. When on crowd control and patrol, mounted police wear a standard khaki uniform, with riding helmets, white gauntlet gloves and

riding boot A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground and ...

References

MOUNTED POLICE
{{Sri Lankan security forces

Mounted Branch The Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch is the mounted police branch of London's Metropolitan Police. It is part of Met Operations. History The Bow Street Horse Patrol was formed in 1763, but ceased after eighteen months when funding ran out. Re ...

Sri Lankan ceremonial units Mounted police